X       'O        I 


JAN    20  1993 


y. 


Lu^ 


»n»««^ 


EGYPT    /V^         ^'^\       INDIA 

1854         I        JAM    20  W3        |  1355 

jubilee  Convention 


XHniteb  Ipresbi^terian  dburcb"'  IR.a. 


CELEBRATING  THE 


FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 

of  the  Founding  of  Missions  in 

^QW^  ^^^  ITnbta 

DECEMBER  6-S,  J904,  PITTSBURG,  PA 


THE  BOARD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

OF    THE 

United    Presbyterian    Church   of    N.  A. 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 


Copyright  1005,  by 

Thk  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 

United  Presbyterian  Church  of  N.  A. 


PREFACE. 

This  book  is  the  official  record  of  the  proceedings  of  The  Pitts- 
burg Convention,  held  December  6-8.  1904,  in  commemoration 
of  the  Semi-Centennial  Anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Missions  in  Egypt  and  India. 

The  addresses  given  on  that  occasion  contained  historical 
material  carefully  compiled,  conclusions  thoughtfully  arrived  at, 
surveys  of  a  most  comprehensive  character,  as  well  as  spiritual 
messages  of  the  highest  and  most  inspiring  order.  That  these 
addresses  might  be  available  for  general  reference,  and  also  that 
their  educative  and  inspirational  value  might  become  accessible  to 
hundreds  who  were  unable  to  attend  the  Convention  this  official 
record  of  the  proceedings  of  that  Convention  has  been  prepared. 

A  brief  history  of  the  Semi-Centennial  Foreign  Missionary 
Celebration,  of  which  the  Pittsburg  Convention  was  a  part,  is 
given  in  the  first  three  chapters,  both  as  a  matter  of  record  and  in 
order  to  give  to  the  Report  of  the  Convention  itself  its  proper 
historical  setting. 


PAGE 

The  Semi-Centennial  Foreign  Missionary  Celebration  : 

History  and  Scope  of  the  Celebration 9 

The  Pittsburg  Convention 17 

Significance  and  Value  of  the  Celebration 34 

Tuesday  Evening: 

A  Convention  Foreword  :   Rev.  C.  S.  Cleland 41 

The  Place  of  Missions  in  the  Thought  of  God:    Mr.  Rol)ert  E. 

Speer 48. 

Wednesday  Morning  : 

The  True  Spirit  of  Missions :    Rev.  Joseph  Kyle,  D.D 63 

Fifty   Years   of   Foreign   Missions   in   Egypt :     Rev.    Charles   R. 

Watson 76' 

Wednesday  Afternoon  : 

The  Reflex   Influence  of  Foreign   Missions   in  the  Life   of  the 

Home  Church :    Rev.  Alexander  Gilchrist,  D.D 103 

Our  Early  Foreign  Missionary  Work:    Rev.  M.  G.  Kyle.  D.D. .  .    109 
Our  Sudan  Mission :   Rev.  J.  K.  Gififen,  D.D 114 

Wednesday  Evening — Business  Men's  Meeting: 

The  Greatest  Business  in  the  World:    Mr.  J.  Campbell  White.  . .    129 
Laymen's  Conference  on  Foreign  Missions 150 

Wednesday  Evening— Women's  Meeting  : 

Women^5  Work  for  Women  :    Its  Past :    Mrs.  W.  W.  Barr 163 

Women's  Work  for  Women  :    Its  Present :    Mrs.  J.  P.  White.  .  .  .    170 
Women's  Work  for  Women:    Its  Future:    Miss  Elizabeth  Irvine   183 

Thursday  Morning  : 

The  Truth  about  Love :    Rev.  W.  C.  Williamson,  D.D 195 

Fifty  Years  of  Mission  Work  in  India :    Rev.  J.  K.   McClurkin, 
D.D 202 

Thursday  Afternoon  : 

Foreign  Missions  and  the  Pastor:    Rev.  D.  F.  }ilcGill 219 

Conference    228 

Foreign  Missions  and  the   Women's  Missionary   Society :     Mrs. 

Annie  R.  Herron 232 

Conference    2y] 

Foreign    Missions    in   the    Sabbath    School   and    Young    People's 

Society :    Mr.  C.  V.  Vickrey 242 

Thursday  Evening  : 

The    Supernatural   Factor   in    Missions:     Rev.    Arthur   T.    Pier- 
so".  D.D 255 

VZ 


Farewell  Words:    Rev.  R.  M.  Russell.  D.D. 
Diagrams  and  Charts 


279 


THE  SEMI=CENTENNIAL  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY 
CELEBRATION. 

The  History  and  Scope  of  the  Celebration. 

The  Pittsburg  Convention. 

The  Significance  and  Value  of  the  Celebration. 


I.     THE  HISTORY  AND  SCOPE  OF  THE  CELEP.RATTON. 

As  far  back  as  in  the  early  part  of  1903,  the  attention  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  was  called,  by  an  article  in  the 
Church  papers,  to  the  approaching  Jubilee  anniversaries  of  the 
founding  of  the  missions  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Egypt  and  India. 

It  was  at  once  generally  realized  that  the  close  of  a  half-century 
of  missionary  work  afforded  to  the  entire  Church  a  priceless 
opportunity  for  reviewing  her  foreign  missionary  enterprise,  for 
acquainting  a  younger  generation  with  the  early  decades  of 
missionary  effort,  for  imparting  to  all  whatever  ins])iration  the 
success  of  a  half-century  of  effort  might  possess,  and  especially  for 
facing  definitely  the  work  which  still  remains  to  be  done  and 
setting  up  new  and  higher  standards  in  reference  to  the  obligation 
resting  upon  the  Church  to  evangelize  the  world. 

The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  brought  the  matter  before  the 
General  Assembly  of  1903,  meeting  at  Tarkio,  Missouri,  in  the 
following  section  of  the  Board's  annual  report: 

"(5)  Jubilee  of  Foreign  Missions.  The  Board  would  respect- 
fully call  the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the  approach- 
ing Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  establishment  of  our  present  for- 
eign missionary  work,  the  Egyptian  Mission,  dating  back  to  1854, 
and  the  Indian  Mission,  to  1855, 

"The  Board  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  close  of  a  half-century 
of  missionary  service  in  Egypt  and  India  aft'ords  a  splendid  oppor- 
tunity for  strengthening  the  faith  of  the  Church  and  deepening  her 
interest  in  the  cause  by  passing  in  review  the  progress  and  success 
of  that  work.  Gratitude  to  God  demands  that  we  make  mention 
of  His  goodness  to  us  during  these  fifty  years  of  foreign  mission- 
ary purpose.  The  proper  celebration  of  this  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  our  present  foreign  missionary  work  will  give  to  our  Church  a 
clearly  defined  consciousness  of  victory  won,  of  progress  made, 
and  of  results  achieved.  That  consciousness  will,  no  doubt, 
become  the  foundation  for  further  progress. 

"The  Board,  therefore,  suggests  to  the  General  Assembly  that  a 
committee  of  nine  be  appointed  to  select  a  common  date  for  the 
celebration  of  the  fiftieth  anniversaries  of  the  establishment  of 
our  Egyptian  and  Indian  missions,  and  to  report  to  the  next 
General  Assembly  plans  for  a  suitable  celebration  throughout  our 


10  rORTvir.N    MISSIOXARY   Jl'lMLK.E    CONVENTION. 

Church  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  our  foreign  missionary 
work." 

The  General  Assenihly  took  the  following  action  with  reference 
to  the  proposed  foreign  missionary  celebration : 

'7.  That  since  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  beginning  of  our 
mission  work  in  Egypt  and  India  occurs  in  1904- 1905,  and  since 
these  anniversaries  may  be  so  taken  account  of  as  to  deepen  the 
interest  of  the  Church  in  the  work  of  these  fields,  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Alissions  be,  and  hereby  is,  appointed  a  committee  to 
arrange  for  a  fitting  celebration  of  these  anniversaries,  and  that 
in  so  doing  the  interests  of  the  semi-centennial  commission's  work 
should  he  furthered. 

"8.  That  the  Assembly  approves  the  desire  of  the  Board  to  have 
the  semi-centennial  of  our  missionary  organizations  made  the  time 
of  raising  a  memorial  fund  for  the  educational  and  other  needs  of 
our  mission  fields,  and  that  the  Board  is  hereby  authorized  to 
co-operate  with  the  semi-centennial  commission  in  securing  this 
end."  ,  ,    ,  .  -'•*' 

During  the  following  year,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
worked  oul  plans  for  a  foreign  missionary  celebration,  and  pre- 
sented these  plans  to  the  General  .\ssembly  of  1904,  meeting  at 
Green\ille.  I 'a. : 

"At  the  last  General  Assembly,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
was  appointed  a  committee  to  arrange  for  a  suitable  celebration  of 
the  conclusion  of  a  half  century  of  foreign  missionary  work  in 
Egypt  and  India. 

"The  B)oard  submits  the  following  general  plan  for  approval : 

"i.  That  December  4th  to  December  nth  be  chosen  to  be 
observed  throughout  our  entire  Church  as  a  foreign  missionary 
week.  .\t  the  services  of  these  two  .Sabbaths,  as  also  at  the  inter- 
vening mid-week  meetings,  pastors  shall  liring  into  review  the 
foreign  missionary  work  of  our  dmrch  in  order  to  acquaint  our 
people  with  the  successes  achieved,  under  the  rich  blessing  of  God 
upon  us,  during  the  past  half  century  of  missions.  Especially 
shall  this  week  be  made  a  week  of  general  intercession  and  j^rayer 
for  foreign  missions  through  our  Churches. 

"2.  That  during  this  week  of  December  4-1 1,  a  foreign  mission- 
ary convention  l)c  held  at  or  near  Pittsburg.  The  aim  of  this 
convention  shall  be  educational  and  inspirational — to  present  the 
conditions,  the  aim,  the  methods,  and  especially  the  results  of 
foreign  missionary  work  in  general,  with  s])ecial  reference,  how- 
ever, to  the  work  in  our  own  foreign  fields.  To  this  convention, 
presbyteries  shall  be  invited  to  send  delegates,  that  the  interest 
generated  my  spread  as  widely  as  possible. 

"3.  In  order  to  effectively  prepare  the  way  for  a  hearty 
observance  of  the  foreign  missionary  week,  and  in  order  to  carry 
the  educational  and  inspirational  privileges  of  this  Jubilee  of  for- 
eign missions  to  as  large  a  constituency  as  is  possible,  depirtational 


HISTORY  AXI)  SCOl'F,  Ol"  THE  ClCUvBRAT  l(  )N.  11 

"work  shall  be  arranged  for  such  as  will  give  to  as  many  congre- 
gations as  is  practicable,  an  opportunity  of  hearing  those  qualified 
especially  to  present  the  inspiring  record  of  our  first  half  century 
of  missions." 

The  General  Assembly  ratified  these  plans  as  presented,  and 
gave  to  the  Board  full  authority  to  arrange  for  carrying  them  out. 
The  General  Assembly  also  recommended  : 

"That,  at  the  fall  meetings,  the  Synods  be  requested  to  give 
special  prominence  to  the  proposed  semi-centennial  of  our  foreign 
mission  work,  and  to  co-operate  with  the  committee  of  the  Board, 
in  securing  a  general  observance  of  the  foreign  missionary  week 
throughout  the  Church." 

The  three  features  of  the  celebration  presented  in  the  three  sec- 
tions of  the  Board's  r'eport  to  the  General  Assembly  require  sepa- 
rate consideration  r 

I.     The  Deputational  Work. 

The  object  of  this  work  was  to  carry  to  each  congregation,  if 
possible,  some  message  concerning  the  semi-centennial  occasion 
and  its  significance,  and  to  make  it  possible  for  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  Church  membership  to  share  in  the  educational  and  inspira- 
tional privileges  of  the  celebration.  It  was  decided  to  devote  the 
month  of  November  to  this  work,  so  that  its  far-reaching  influ- 
ences might  serve  as  a  preparation  for  and  a  stimulus  to  both  the 
observance  6f  the  foreign  missionary  week  and  the  convention. 

By  Synodical  appointment  (or  where  this  was  not  practicable, 
"by  appointment  of  the  Board)  committees  were  created  in  each 
Synod  consisting  of  one  representative  from  each  presbytery  to 
co-operate  with  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  in  the  proposed 
-celebration.  Letters  were  then  sent  out  to  a  large  number  of  pas- 
tors in  every  section  of  the  Church  asking  them  to  serve  as  speak- 
ers in  this  deputational  work.  Where  acceptances  were  received, 
literature  was  forwarded,  together  with  suggestions  as  to  foreign 
-missionary  subjects  appropriate  to  the  celebration. 

Those  who  had  volunteered  to  do  deputational  work  were 
assigned  to  different  presbyteries,  usually  to  a  presbytery  adjoin- 
ing the  one  of  which  they  were  members.  Information  was  sent 
to  the  Synodical  committeeman  of  each  presbytery,  informing 
him  of  the  deputational  speaker  or  speakers  assigned  to  his  presby- 
tery. It  was  then  left  to  him  to  arrange  meetings  in  every  con- 
gregation, if  possible ;  to  inform  the  speaker  of  his  itinerary,  and 
to  enlist  other  speakers  if  the  Board's  assignment  of  speakers 
proved  insufficient.     The  understanding  was  that  the  committee- 


12  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBII.E;e:    CONVIlNTlON. 

men  should  arrange  for  these  meetings :  that  speakers  should  give 
their  services  free;  and  that  the  congregations  or  comnntnities 
addressed  should  provide  for  railroad  expenses  of  speakers  and 
their  entertainment.  In  this  way  the  work  was  done  luith  no 
expense  to  the  foreign  missionary  treasury. 

Among  the  many  difficulties  which  had  to  be  overcome  in  carry- 
ing out  this  plan  for  deputational  work  during  the  month  of 
November,  were:  Lack  of  a  sufficient  force  of  speakers,  wide 
separation  of  congregations  involying  too  great  an  expense  of 
travel,  preoccupation  of  field  by  special  meetings,  bad  weather. 
Owing  to  the  wide  separation  of  congregations  in  the  Presbyteries 
of  the  Pacific  Coast,  it  was  decided  not  to  urge  this  work  in  those 
Presbyteries,  but  in  spite  of  this  judgment  of  the  committee,  the 
interest  of  the  Church  led  to  considerable  deputational  work  being 
done,  even  under  these  difficult  circumstances. 

Some  idea  of  the  extent  and  value  of  this  feature  of  the  semi- 
centennial celebration  may  be  had  from  the  following  statistics 
and  opinions,  based  on  reports  received  by  the  Board  from 
41   Presbyteries  reporting  deputational  work  done. 
6  Presbyteries  reporting  no  deputational  work  done. 
13  Presbyteries  not  reporting.     Many  of  these  are  known  to 

have  had  work  done. 
96  Speakers  engaged  in  this  work,  or  10  per  cent,  of  United- 
Presbyterian  pastors. 
393  Meetings  held. 

422  Congregations  reached,  or  42  per  cent,  of  all  United  Pres- 
byterian congregations. 
32,121   Attendance  at  326  meetings  reporting  attendance. 
6,566  Estimated  attendance  at  67  meetings  not  reporting  attend- 
ance. 
38,687  Total  probable  attendance  at  meetings,  or  30  per  cent,  of 
Church  membership. 
19  Highest  mnnber  of  meetings  held  in  any  one  Presbytery 
(College  Springs,  Lake). 
100  Highest  percentage  of  congregations  reached  in  any  one 
Presbytery  (Caledonia,  Chartiers,  \'ermont). 
2,255  Highest   attendance   at  meetings   in   any   one    Presbytery 
(Monongahela). 

2.     The  I'oreicn   Missionary  Week. 

By  action  of  the  General  Assembly,   December  4- 11    was   set 
apart  as  a  Foreign  Missionary  Week,  to  be  observed  throughout 


HISTORY  AND  SCOPE  OF  THF;  CELEBRATION.  13 

the  entire  United  Presbyterian  Church.  The  aim  was  to  have  the 
half-century's  record  of  foreign  missionary  efifort  pass  in  review- 
before  every  organization  of  the  Church,  so  that  every  department 
of  the  Church  might  be  brought  to  recognize  its  proper  relation  to 
this  great  work. 

A  hand-book  of  suggestions  was  prepared  and  copies  of  it  were 
sent  to  every  pastor  and  to  every  president  of  a  woman's  mission- 
ary society.  This  hand-book  presented  the  results  of  a  half  cen- 
tury of  work.  It  also  gave  important  reasons  for  a  hearty  celebra- 
tion of  the  semi-centennial  anniversary.  It  gave  outlines  and 
themes  for  semi-centennial  foreign  missionary  addresses.  It  sug- 
gested semi-centennial  foreign  missionary  programs  for  use  in  the 
Sabbath  school  and  young  people's  society.  It  contained  a  very 
practical  and  forceful  appeal  from  the  Woman's  Board,  addressed 
to  the  Women's  Missionary  Societies,  calling  upon  them  to  hold  a 
special  meeting  during  this  Foreign  Missionary  Week  in  order  to 
celebrate  the  completion  of  a  half  century  of  work.  A  special  pro- 
gram, entitled,  "Send  the  Light,"  was  issued  by  the  Board  of 
Young  People's  Societies,  and  fifteen  thousand  copies  were  or- 
dered by  those  desiring  to  use  them. 

Reports  concerning  the  observance  of  this  Foreign  Missionary 
Week,  concerning  its  educational  and  inspirational  value,  have 
been  received  from  almost  every  section  of  the  Church,  and  the 
statement  <can  be  made  without  any  fear  of  contradiction,  that 
the  observance  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Week  zvas  practically 
universal  throughout  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North 
America. 

The  recommendation  was  also  emphatically  made  that  the 
entire  week  be  observed  as  a  week  of  prayer.  The  mid-week 
prayer  meeting  of  December  7th  was  set  apart  as  a  service  of 
special  prayer.  The  high  spiritual  tone  of  the  Pittsburg  conven- 
tion, which  was  held  during  that  week,  is  credited  to  nothing  else 
than  the  impetus  of  prayer  ascending  to  the  throne  of  grace  from 
all  parts  of  the  Church  during  the  Foreign  Missionary  Week.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  convention  itself  made  more  effective  the 
observance  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Week  as  it  kindled  fires  of 
missionary  zeal  on  the  following  Sabbath  in  the  pulpits  of  those 
■who  were  privileged  to  attend  its  sessions. 

3.     The  Pittsburc;  Convention. 

A  foreign  Missionary  Convention  was  one  of  the  chief  features 


14  FOREIGN   MISSIONARY   JUBILEE^    CONVENTION. 

of  the  proposed  Semi-Centennial  Foreign  Missionary  Celebration. 
It  was  to  be  a  national  convention — national  so  far  as  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  was  concerned.  Pittsburg  was  recognized 
as  a  suitable  and  natural  center  for  such  a  gathering.  It  was  to 
be  a  three  day  convention,  extending  from  Tuesday  evening, 
December  6th,  to  Thursday  evening,  December  8th,  thus  affording 
opportunity  for  historical  surveys,  for  devotional  meetings,  for 
practical  conferences  and  for  popular  public  rallies. 

A  sub-committee  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  composed 
of  Rev.  C.  S.  Cleland,  Rev.  W.  M.  Anderson  and  Rev.  C.  R. 
Watson,  with  a  similar  sub-committee  of  the  Women's  Board 
composed  of  Mrs.  E.  M.  Hill,  Mrs.  H.  C.  Campbell  and  Mrs.  J.  J. 
Porter,  arranged  the  program. 

A  local  committee  at  Pittsburg  took  charge  of  all  local  arrange- 
ments for  handling  the  convention.  This  committee  was  com- 
posed and  also  sub-divided  into  the  sub-committees  as  follows : 

Local   Committee   For    Pittsburg   Convention. 

R.  M.  Russell,  D.  D.,  Chairman. 

Committee  on  Place  of  meeting — Rev.  S.  W.  McKelvev,  Chair- 
man ;  Rev.  J.  K.  McClurkin,  D.  D.,  Mr.  David  Blair,  Mr. 
Thomas  B.  Donaldson. 

Committee  on  Entertainment — John  E.  Shaw,  Esq.,  Chairman; 
Mrs.  H.  C.  Campbell,  T.  J.  Gillespie,  Esq.,  E.  S. 
McClelland,  Esq.,  J.  D.  Turner,  Esq. 

Committee  on  I'ress  and  Advertisement — Rev.  W.  I.  Wishart, 
Chairman;  Rev.  W.  H.  McMillan,  D.  D.,  Rev.  W.  R. 
Wilson,  J.  J.  Porter.  Esq. 

Committee  on  Exhibit-^Rev.  John  McNaugher,  D.  D.,  Chair- 
man ;  Mrs.  E.  M.  Hill,  Mrs.  M.  C.  Porter,  D.  T.  Reed.  Esq. 

Committee  on  Railroad  Concessions — Robert  Trimble,  Escj. 

No  adequate  idea  can  be  given  of  the  enormous  amount  of  work 
which  fell  to  these  sub-committees  to  canry.  For  days  and  even 
weeks  before  the  convention,  thdse  committees  labored  hard  to 
perfect  the  necessary  arrangements.  During  the  entire  session  of 
the  convention,  almost  every  member  of  each  committee  placed 
his  or  her  time  entirely  at  the  disposal  of  the  convention.  F.ven 
after  the  convention  was  over,  there  remained  a  great  deal  of  work 
for  all  in  the  settlement  of  accounts  and  the  return  of  exhibits 
loaned. 

Three  factors  which  contributed  largely  to  the  success  of  the 
convention  are  deserving  of  special  mention. 

The  first  was  the  admirable  equipment  of  the  Convention 
Church,  the  Sixth  United  Presbvterian  Church  of  Pittsburg.     Its 


IIJSTOR^'  AND  SfOl'lC  ()!•   Tllli  CKI<KBRAT ION.  16 

spacious  and  elegant  auditorium  provided  as  coniforta1)le  a  place 
of  meeting  as  could  have  been  secured  anywhere  for  the  inspiring 
audiences  which  tested  even  the  capacity  of  that  large  Church, 
Its  Sabbath  School  chapel  and  numerous  other  rooms  furnished*, 
ample  accommodations  for  exhibits,  writing  and  conference  rooms, 
registration  and  other  Bureaus,  adding  so  nnich  to  the  pleasure- 
and  comfort  of  delegates.  The  dining  halls  in  the  basement 
furnished  catering  facilities  which  were  much  appreciated.  The  ■ 
entire  convention  and  those  in  charge  of  it  \yerc  very  grateful  to 
the  Sixth  Church  of  Pittsburg  for  the  generosity  which  placed  this 
equipment  at  the  disposal  of  the  convention. 

The  second  factor  worthy  of  special  mention  was  the  foreign 
missionary  exhibit.  Tn  another  chapter  will  be  found  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  exhibit.  We  here  wish  to  refer  to  the  amount  of  labor 
which  was  involved  in  securing  the  large  number  of  articles  ex- 
hibited, in  keeping  a  record  of  them  and  of  their  owners,  in 
classifying  and  arranging  them  for  exhibition  and  finally  in  secur- 
ing their  safe  return  to  those  who  had  loaned  them.  For  this,, 
credit  is  to  be  given  to  the  Exhibit  Committee. 

The  work  of  the  Entertainment  Committee  was  the  foundation- 
upon  whicli  rested  the  personal  comfort  and  convenience  of  the 
six  hundred  delegates  who  attended  the  Pittsburg  Convention. 
The  generous  offer  of  Pittsburg  and  vicinity  to  furnish  free  enter- 
tainment ^  lodging  and  breakfasts),  to  the  accredited  delegates, 
made  it  possible  for  many  to  attend  where  otherwise  the  cost  of 
attendance  would  have  prevented  their  going.  The  discovery  of 
places  of  entertainment,  the  assignment  of  delegates  to  these 
places  and  the  direction  of  others  than  accredited  delegates  to 
suitable  hotels  and  boarding  houses,  was  the  task  of  the  Entertain- 
ment Committee  and  it  involved  an  amount  of  labor  and  executive 
ability  which  stand  to  the  credit  of  the  devoted  committee  which 
so  successfullv  discharged  this  difficult  duty. 


ir.     THE  PITTSBURG  CONVENTION. 

To  appreciate  the  power  and  impressiveness  of  the  Pittsburg 
Convention  it  is  necessary  to  throw  every  address  into  its  proper 
setting'.  To  those  who  were  not  privileged  to  be  present,  a  general 
description  of  that  convention  may  help  to  give  some  idea  of  the 
thought,  the  spirit  and  the  progressive  movement  of  the  Pittsburg 
Convention. 

An  admirable  general  sketch  of  the  convention  appeared  in 
"The  United  Presbyterian,"  of  December  15th,  1904  and  we  give 
it  almost  in  its  entirety  and  without  burdening  it  with  quotation 
marks,  making,  however,  a  few  changes  which  seem  necessary  for 
the  sake  of  accuracy  or  clearness : 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  conventions  in  the  history  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  came  to  a  close  in  the  Sixth  Church, 
Pittsburg,  Thursday  evening,  December  8th.  It  was  the  climax 
of  an  enthusiasm  which  had  been  gathering  momentum  for  weeks. 
Earnest  christian  ministers  had  been  addressing  the  various  con- 
gregations in  every  presbytery  throughout  the  Church,  laying  the 
claims  of  our  foreign  work  on  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the 
people  and  when  the  day  arrived  for  the  great  Semi-Centennial 
Convention  the  hearts,  as  well  as  the  eyes  of  the  people,  were 
turned  with  eager  inquiry  toward  the  city  of  Pittsburg.  Delegates 
from  congregations,  women's  missionary  societies,  presbyteries 
and  other  courts  and  societies,  began  arriving  as  early  as  Satur- 
day. Monday  numerous  arrivals  were  reported,  and  on  Tuesday, 
the  day  of  the  beginning  of  the  great  jubilee,  every  train  entering 
the  city  brought  many  representatives.*  They  came  as  the  tribes 
of  old  came  up  to  Jerusalem  to  make  mention  of  the  goodness  of 
Jehovah  and  to  praise  Him  for  His  wonderful  works  in  India,  in 
the  land  of  Zoan  and  in  "the  land  of  the  rustling  of  wings,  which 
is  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia." 


*A  careful  examination  of  the  registration  books  showed  the  following 
attendance  and  representation  :  199  delegates  representing  Women's  Mis- 
sionary Societies ;  4  representing  Women's  Missionary  Presbyterials ;  258 
representing  congregations;  13  foreign  missionaries;  113  visitors,  making 
a  total  of  587.  To  these  must  be  added  a  large  number  who  failed  to 
register.  Hundreds  were  in  attendance  from  Pittsburg,  .\llegheny  and 
vicinity  who  did  not  register. 

17 


18  FORIJIGN   MISSIONARY   JUBILEE;    CONVENTION. 

It  was  a  remarkable  gathering.  For  profound  earnestness,  for- 
devout  and  worshipful  enthusiasm  we  have  seldom,  if  ever,  seen 
it  equalled.  The  intensity  of  youth,  the  consecrated  energy  of 
vigorous  manhood  and  womanhood  and  the  sagacity  and  prudence 
of  age  were  harmonized  into  one  magnificent  willingness  to  hear 
what  God  the  Lord  would  speak.  There  was  a  universal  yielding 
to  the  divine  pressure.  There  was  a  unity  of  action.  There  was 
no  tawdry  or  grandiloquent  oratory,  neither  clap-trap  nor 
efifervescence  of  rhetoric,  but  there  was  an  eloquence,  born  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  whose  one  aim  seemed  to  be  to  lay  the  claims  of  the 
Church  on  the  hearts  of  the  people  as  the  God  of  missions  might 
lay  it  upon  the  consciences  of  the  speakers.  It  was,  without  con- 
troversy, the  "greatest  missionary  convention  ever  held  in  our 
denomination. 

Opening  Session. 

The  scene  at  the  opening  hour  was  a  most  inspiring  one.  The 
large  auditorium  of  the  Sixth  Church  was  filled  with  as  magnifi- 
cent an  audience  as  ever  assembled  for  the  consideration  of  things 
pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God.  Pews  and  aisles  and  gallery 
were  massed  with  no  less  than  2,000  of  as  noble  men  and  women 
as  ever  lifted  their  hearts  in  prayer  and  thanksgiving  to  God. 
Mottoes,  dashed  with  delicate  greenery,  arrested  the  thought. 

Over  the  platform  were  the  words  : 

"Missions  the  Supreme  End  of  the  Church." 

On  the  wall,  to  the  speaker's  right,  was  the  motto : 

"Africa  Has  No  Darkness  Which  the  Gospel  Cannot  Dispel.'^ 
On  the  left  wall : 

"India  Has  No  Sorrow  that  Christ's  Message  Cannot  Cure." 

On  the  gallery  front : 

Shall  IVe  Evangelicc  16,000,000  Heathen  by  Ciz'i)ig  an 
Average  of  16  Cents  a  Week?  This  Means  ^00,000  Souls  Evan- 
gelized by  $1,000,000  a  Year." 

Over  the  platform  depended  an  immense  map  of  the  world, 
50x25  feet,  belonging  to  Dr.  Pierson,  Editor-in-Chief  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Review  of  the  World,  back  of  which,  and  on  either  side  of 
it,  were  missionary  maps  of  India  and  Egypt.  A  large  chorus,  led 
by  the  splendid  choir  of  the  Convention  Church,  had  charge  of  the 
service  of  song.  And  seldom  have  the  psalms  of  the  Church,  those 
magnificent  missionary  songs  of  the  Spirit,  been  sung  with  a 
deeper  fervor.     The  voice  of  the  vast  congregation  was  as  the 


TRt  PITTSBURG  CONVENTION.  19-' 

sound  of  many  waters.  "What  will  it  ])C  when  we  i^ct  up  yonder, 
when  it  is  so  g;lorious  here !"  exclaimed  one  reverent  worsln'per  to 
the  writer. 

The  initial  session  was  presided  over  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Witherspoon, 
Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly ;  the  song-  service  was  in  • 
charge  of  William  Y.  Griffith ;  the  opening-  prayer  was  offered  by 
Dr.  Arthur  T.  Pierson  and  the  opening  address  was  delivered  by 
Rev.  C.  S.  Cleland,  of  Philadelphia,  Recording  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  his  theme  being  "A  Convention  Fore- 
word." He  spoke  forcefully  of  the  missionary  ancestry  of  our 
Church  and  of  the  beginnings  of  things  in  our  missionary  work.. 
He  referred  to  the  work  of  the  McCagues  and  the  Gordons,  Dr. 
Barnett  and  the  faithful  and  consecrated  men  and  women  who 
followed.  He  spoke  of  the  dense  ignorance,  the  moral  and  spirit- 
ual blindness  of  the  people ;  of  the  difficulty  of  advancing  the 
work  without  the  printed  page,  of  their  long  waiting  before  the 
fruits  of  their  labor  began  to  appear  and  of  the  wonderful  con- 
trast between  the  conditions  then  and  now,  when  the  foreign 
missions  are  themselves  sending  out  foreign  missionaries — and 
have  a  present  membership  of  over  16,000.  He  spoke  of  the 
fifty  years  of  victory,  when  232  missionaries  have  been  sent  out, 
$4,000,000  expended  and  26,500  natives  redeemed.  It  was  a 
splendid  setting  forth  in  summary  of  the  struggles  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  past  fifty  years  and  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
masterly  address  which  followed. 

Many  of  the  audience  were  not  prepared  for  the  calm,  almost 
boyish  face  of  Robert  E.  Speer,  as  he  appeared  in  response  to  his^ 
name.  A  thoughtful  face,  like  the  fathoms  of  the  sea,  where 
mountains  and  stars  are  mirrored,  deeps  where  heaven  and  earth- 
repose,  as  we  soon  discovered  when  he  swung  his  powerful  ad- 
dress on  the  pivot— "The  Place  of  Missions  in  the  Thought  of 
God."  It  was  no  immature  mind  that  grappled  with  his  profound 
phase  of  the  mission  problem.  He  told  us  how  God's  thought  for 
the  world  was  a  missionary  thought ;  how  Christ's  mission  was  the 
revelation  of  the  missionary  conception  of  God ;  how  Christ  him- 
self was  a  missionary  Redeemer,  His  spirit,  His  prayers.  His  life 
were  missionary ;  he  told  us  if  we  would  take  the  missionary  spirit 
out  of  the  Bible  we  would  have  no  Bible  at  all;  he  told  us  how 
history  was  but  an  unfolding  of  the  missionary  thought  of  God. 
And  having  showed  us  the  profound  missionary  outreachings  in 
the  divine  will,  he  asked  us  what  place  it  had  in  ours.  Our  inter- 
ests should  be  parallel  with  God's  and  the  place  of  missions  in  our 


^0  ]/oke;ign  missionary  jubilee:  convention. 

thought  should  be  as  it  is  in  His  and  it  will  rest  upon  the  true 
foundation.  It  was  one  of  the  most  masterful  addresses  ever 
delivered  before  a  religious  convention. 

Wednesday  IMorning. 

The  highly  devout  and  excellent  missionary  spirit  aroused  in 
the  opening  session  of  the  Convention  seemed  to  pervade  all 
hearts  as  the  delegates  came  together  on  Wednesday  morning,  all 
intent  upon  the  good  things  provided  for  the  day.  This  spirit 
only  deepened  and  widened  as  Dr.  Joseph  Kyle,  of  Xenia,  Ohio, 
the  first  speaker,  gave  a  most  inspiring  address  on  "The  True 
Spirit  of  Missions." 

In  this  it  was  shown  that  there  was  no  secret  about  the  primitive 
New  Testament  evangelization  of  the  world.  The  same  spirit 
that  converted  a  Paul,  the  same  Gospel  that  then  turned  the  world 
upside  down,  are  the  Church's  heritage  to-day.  While  there  were 
spiritual  giants  in  those  days,  they  were  so  because  they  kept  in 
touch  with  God.  Not  so  much  zeal  for  the  truth  as  devotion  to  a 
person  made  the  apostles  and  martyrs  the  missionaries  they  were 
— doing,  suffering,  dying  for  Christ.  The  same  spirit  led  Carey, 
Judson,  Henry  Martyn,  Livingstone,  Gordon  and  every  true  mis- 
sionary to  bury  themselves  in  the  darkness  and  jungles  of  heathen- 
ism, and  must  be  the  inspiration  of  all  true  missionary  work.  A 
chain  of  many  links  may  be  suspended  from  a  magnet,  but  the 
length  and  strength  of  the  chain  depends  upon  the  power  of  the 
magnet.  The  stability  and  extent  of  any  missionary  operations 
depend  upon  the  power  that  Christ  as  a  magnet  has  upon  each  of 
the  individual  workers. 

"Fifty  Years  of  Foreign  Missions  in  Egypt"  was  the  theme  of 
an  interesting  and  extended  address  by  our  Foreign  Missionary 
Secretary,  Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson.  In  introducing  the  speaker, 
Mrs.  Campbell,  the  chairman  of  the  meeting,  feelingly  referred 
to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  son  of  Egypt,  and,  in  honor  of  his  father 
and  mother,  who  are  missionaries  yet  in  that  land,  requested  the 
audience  to  rise  and  send  the  Chautauquan  salute  across  to  them 
from  the  Convention.  It  was  heartily  responded  to.  The  address 
most  carefully  and  thoroughly  reviewed  the  moral  and  political 
-conditions  of  the  country  of  Egypt,  the  small  beginnings  of  the 
mission  there,  the  prejudice,  oppositions  and  discouragements  it 
had  to  meet  and  overcome;  its  rapid  progress  during  the  last  years 
■of  the  half  century.    He  dwelt  with  great  thankfulness  and  hope- 


THE  PITTSBURG  CONVENTION.  21 

fulness  upon  the  present  prosperous  condition  of  the  mission  and 
the  influence  of  its  work  upon  the  people. 

A  nominating-  committee,  appointed  at  the  Tuesday  evening 
meeting,  nominated  the  following-  officers  for  the  Convention,  to 
act  also  as  an  Executive  Committee,  and  these  nominations  were 
unanimously  ratified  by  the  Convention : 

President — Thomas  Balph. 

Vice-Presidents — Thomas  McCague,  Miss  Elizabeth  (jordon, 
Mrs.  D.  S.  Lytle,  W.  S.  McClure,  F.  M.  Spencer. 

Secretary,  W.  C.  Adair. 

Wednesday  Afternoon. 

In  the  afternoon  session  there  were  three  good  addresses — the 
first  by  Dr.  Gilchrist,  on  the  "Reflex  Influence  of  Foreign  Missions 
in  the  Life  of  the  Home  Church ;"  Dr.  M.  G.  Kyle,  President  of 
the  Foreign  Mission  Board,  on  "Our  Early  Foreign  Mission 
Work,"  and  Dr.  J.  K.  Giffen  on  "Our  Sudan  Mission." 

"No  friend  in  all  the  world  congratulates  the  Foreign  Mission 
Board  in  its  successes  during  the  fifty  years  of  the  past  more 
heartily  than  the  Home  Board,"  said  Dr.  Gilchrist.  There  is  a 
divine  unity  in  the  work  of  the  Church,  and  when  a  thrill  of  pleas- 
ure fills  the  hearts  of  the  worker  abroad  it  is  also  felt  in  the  hearts 
of  those  at  home.  The  influence  of  foreign  missions  on  the  home 
Church  is  to  give  it  a  truer  conception  of  its  divine  mission.  In- 
stead of  holding  fast  something  as  true  simply,  it  sees  that  it  holds 
fast  these  things  for  the  sake  of  other  people :  enlarged  sympathy 
and  liberality  of  feelings  for  others,  a  greater  evangelistic  activity 
at  home,  a  larger  devotion  to  the  work  of  the  world-wide  evan- 
gelization, and  a  strengthened  faith  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ  as  a 
saving  power  are  reflex  results  of  foreign  missions. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  early  missionary  work  of  our  Church  a 
vivid  sketch  was  given  by  Dr.  Kyle  of  the  efforts  of  the  Associate 
and  Associate  Reformed  Churches  in  locating  and  carrying  on 
mission  work  in  Trinidad,  Damascus  and  other  fields.  What 
estimate  should  the  Church  put  upon  these  early  efforts?  Are 
they  to  be  regarded  simply  as  efforts  of  antiquity  which  are  to  be 
put  on  exhibition  ?  They  have  their  part  in  the  rejoicings  of  to- 
day. They  stand  with  the  Gordons  and  Lansings  of  our  early 
missionary  work  in  India  and  Egypt,  because  they  gave  the 
knowledge  by  which  our  Church  could  best  direct  her  energies  to 
the  place  where  success  would  crown  her  efforts.     They  were 


•22  I^OR^IGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILliK    CONVKNTIOX. 

faithful.  There  is  something-  better  than  fifty  years  of  missionary 
work,  and  that  is  to  be  the  good  and  faithful  servant. 

At  the  close  of  this  address  there  occurred  one  of  the  most 
touching  and  pathetic  incidents  of  the  Convention.  The  foreign 
-missionaries  in  attendance  were  invited  to  the  platform,  and  with 
them  the  two  remaining  pioneers  of  our  foreign  missions — Miss 
Gordon,  of  India,  and  Dr.  McCague,  of  Egypt. 

As  the  veteran  missionary  was  introduced  to  the  Convention 
.and  asked  to  speak,  the  excitement  of  the  occasion  seemed  almost 
too  much  for  his  enfeebled  physical  condition,  and  he  asked  that 
all  might  join  with  him  in  a  short  prayer-talk  with  God  that  he 
might  get  control  of  his  feelings.  As  he  did  so,  almost  uncon- 
sciously he  drifted  out  of  his  prayer  to  God  into  a  most  earnest 
and  pathetic  speech  on  the  mission  work  in  Egypt,  which  is  so 
dear  to  his  heart.  It  was  so  simple  and  child-like,  and  yet  so  soul- 
thrilling,  that  it  captured  every  heart,  and  many  eyes  were  dimmed 
with  tears  when  he  finished  speaking. 

Rev.  C.  R.  Watson,  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board 
-of  Foreign  Missions,  read  to  the  Convention  the  two  following 
■cablegrams  addressed  to  the  Convention  by  the  missionaries  of 
Egypt  and  India : 

From  Egypt :  "Cairo,  December  6,  Egypt  for  Christ,  what  are 
Ave  waiting  for?" 

From  India:  "Sialkot,  December  6,  Ebenezer,  first  Samuel  seven 
twelve;  Macedonia,  Acts  sixteen  nine." 

The  account  given  by  Dr.  Giffen  of  the  missionaries'  first  ex- 
periences in  the  Sudan  was  full  of  interest  to  every  one  who  heard 
it.  It  must  be  heard  to  be  fully  appreciated.  No  proper  sketch 
can  be  given  of  it  here.  That  first  night,  however,  in  the  Sudan, 
-when  surrounded  by  the  naked  savages  with  their  spears  and  war 
clubs,  they  lay  down  under  the  friendly  shelter  of  a  tree  and  slept 
peacefully  and  unharmed,  forms  one  of  the  most  heroic  and  thrill- 
ing experiences  in  the  history  of  missions.  They  could  certainly 
appreciate  the  sweetness  of  the  words  of  the  psalmist,  "I  laid  me 
•down  and  slept:  I  awaked;  for  the  Lord  sustained  me." 

Wednesday  Evening — Men's  Meeting. 

Wednesday   evening  was   devoted  to   hearing  an   address   by 

J.  Campbell  White  on  "The  Greatest  Business  in  the  World," 

and  to  a  "Laymen's  Conference  on  Foreign  Missions."     It  was 

one  of  the  best  sessions  of  the  Convention.    It  was  a  meeting  for 

■men  only.     Mr.  White's  address  was  on  the  financial  side  of  mis- 


the;  PITTSBURG  CONVENTION.  23 

's'ions,  and  it  was  truth  and  figures  and  facts,  and  fact  and  figures 
and  truth  from  l^eginning  to  end  laid  upon  every  man's  conscience 
^vith  sledge-hammer  blows.  And  if  any  man  went  away  from  the 
meeting  without  having  a  bruise  on  his  conscience  it  was  because 
he  had  no  conscience  to  bruise  or  was  already  doing  his  whole 
duty.  I  will  not  attempt  even  a  brief  sketch  of  the  address ;  it 
would  only  spoil  it.  The  best  thing  to  do  is  for  every  pastor  and 
congregation  to  have  Mr.  White  go  and  speak  to  them  on  "The 
Greatest  Business  in  the  World,"  or  get  the  speech  when  pub- 
lished and  read  it.  And  they  will  find  that  they  are  not  engaged 
to  a  very  large  extent  in  that  business. 

Dr.  Pierson,  the  Editor-in-Chief  of  the  Missionary  Review  of 
the  World,  and  the  most  widely  known  worker  in  the  cause  of 
missions  in  the  world,  pronounced  it  the  ablest  address  he  had 
heard  on  the  subject  of  mission  finances  in  forty  years,  express- 
ing a  wish  that  it  be  published  in  tract  form  for  distribution,  which 
•will,  no  doubt,  be  done. 

xA.t  the  close  of  the  meeting  a  special  committee  was  appointed 
to  suggest  a  course  whereby  the  interest  aroused  at  this  meeting 
might  find  definite  expression  and  its  aims  and  purposes  be  real- 
-  ized.     (See  page  29 

Women's  ^Meeting. 

The  Eftiory  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  this  hour  was  more 
than  full  of  women.  Every  pew  was  packed,  the  platform  was 
crowded  and  even  the  choir  loft  was  occupied  as  to  steps,  chairs 
and  floor,  leaving  not  much  spare  room  for  Mrs.  Blanchard  and 

;  her  organist,  who  so  acceptably  led  the  song  service. 

Wisdom  and  a  sense  of  fitness,  too,  had  been  shown  in  the 

'  choice  of  presiding  officer  and  speakers.  Mrs.  E.  M.  Hill,  Foreign 
Secretary  of  the  Women's  Board,  made  each  speaker  and  the 
audience  at  home  with  one  another — Airs.  W.  ^^^  Barr.  whose 
husband  was  for  so  long  a  link  between  the  home  and  foreign 
fields ;  Mrs.  J.  P.  Wliite,  in  God's  Providence  brought  back  from 
Egypt  to  home  mission  work,   and    Miss   Elizabeth   Irvine,   the 

.  daughter  of  one  who  was  a  pioneer  missionary  in  Oregon  at  a 
time  when,  as  Dr.  McClurkin  told  us,  the  Church  thought  it  had 
all  the  foreign  work  it  could  manage  in  Oregon  and  California — 
these  were  the  women  who  spoke  to  the  great  audience  on  "Wom- 
en's Work  for  Women :  Its  Past,  Its  Present,  Its  Future." 

Space  will  not  permit  even  a  brief  outline  of  the  stirring  ad- 
dresses, in  one  of  which  Miss  Hill  told  of  women's  bloody  rites  in 


24  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBIIvEE    CONVENTION. 

Kali's  temple  and  the  dire  need  of  help  from  us,  so  highly  favored, 
yet  their  sisters ;  in  another  Mrs.  Barr  traced,  as  if  it  were  the 
course  of  a  great  stream  flowing  from  a  little  spring,  the  work  of 
United  Presbyterian  women,  first  in  one  congregational  foreign 
missionary  society  in  each  of  the  parent  denominations,  then  in  the 
presbyterials  and  the  Women's  General  Missionary  Society,  zeal 
and  contributions  steadily  growing  and  the  results  in  schools, 
medical  missions  and  zenana  work  attesting  Gods  favor ;  in  a 
third  Mrs.  White  contrasted  the  doctrines  of  the  Koran  and  of  the 
Bible  by  their  fruits  in  Mohammedan  and  Christian  homes,  cited 
the  work  now  being  carried  on,  and  especially  the  self-denying 
and  self-surrendering  spirit  of  the  converts  as  encouragements, 
and  in  a  fourth  Miss  Irvine  sounded  the  call  for  reinforcements 
and  reminded  us  that  God's  forces — His  chariots  and  horses — are 
already  at  our  command ;  we  need  only  to  have  our  eyes  opened. 
The  meeting  was  to  have  closed  with  the  reading  of  promises 
by  Mrs.  Mary  Clokey  Porter  and  prayers  for  their  fulfillment  by 
three  of  the  lady  missionaries,  but  time  flew  so  rapidly  that  this 
service  had  to  be  omitted. 

Thursday  Morning. 

On  Thursday  morning  the  hearts  of  the  members  of  the  Con- 
vention were  wonderfully  uplifted  in  preparation  for  the  many 
good  things  awaiting  them  in  the  closing  sessions  by  a  warm, 
stirring  address  by  Dr.  W.  C.  Williamson,  on  "The  Truth  About 
Love."  His  address  was  founded  on  the  words  found  in  Phil. 
1:9-11.  This  love  is  not  God's  love  to  men,  but  our  love  for  God 
and  man.  All  true  Christians  have  it.  But  it  may  abound  yet 
more  and  more  in  every  heart ;  no  limit  to  it.  This  thought  is  in 
keeping  with  this  Jubilee.  Men  and  women  went  out  to  our 
mission  field  because  of  abounding  love.  And  when  we  look  for- 
ward to  another  fifty  years  the  work  will  require  more  expanding^ 
abounding  love.  This  very  helpful  and  spiritual  address  w.as  fol- 
lowed by  one  of  the  mcjst  able  and  interesting  of  the  Convention, 
by  Dr.  J.  K.  McClurkin,  on  "Fifty  Years  in  India ;  a  Land  Strange 
in  History,  Dark  in  Sin,  Bright  in  Prophecy."  He  spoke  of  seven 
shadbws  as  resting  upon  that  dark  land  in  the  past  and  blighting 
it  yet  in  the  present.  The  dark  shadows  of  caste,  of  the  soul's 
transmigration,  Buddhism,  Mohammedanism,  poverty  and  ignor- 
ance, her  conquerors  and  modern  Hinduism.  These  shadows  are 
gradually  being  dispelled  by  the  breaking  out  of  mission  light 
which  began  in  a  feeble  way  as  early  as  the  second  century.     But 


TIIK  PITTSBURG  CONVEXTIOX.  25 

even  yet  little  has  been  done.  The  real  work  is  just  bc,:.^ inning^. 
And  what  we  do  for  that  land  should  be  done  quickly,  for  150,000 
souls  pass  out  of  that  darkness  into  the  denser  darkness  of  eternal 
death  in  one  year.  And  what  we  do  we  should  do  for  Him,  for 
Christ  alone,  who  came  to  seek  and  save  the  lost.  The  inspiring 
address  reached  its  climax  when  the  speaker  asked  the  audience 
to  rise  while  he  called  the  roll  of  those  who  had  o^iven  their  lives 
for  Christ's  cause  in  that  dark  land.  It  seemed  as  thouc^h  the  very 
gates  of  heaven  were  opened  to  us  as  they  were  to  Stephen,  and 
we  could  see  them  resting  at  Jesus'  feet. 

During  this  session  Secretary  Watson  presented  to  Dr.  Balph, 
the  president  of  the  Convention,  a  beautiful  gavel.  The  head  was 
made  of  wood  taken  from  the  study  of  the  first  mission  house  in 
Assiut,  Egypt,  occupied  by  Dr.  Hogg.  The  handle  of  wood  taken 
from  the  first  United  Presbyterian  mission  building  in  India. 
There  were  two  pieces  of  wood  in  the  handle  which  came  from 
2000  miles  up  the  Nile.  The  head  of  the  gavel  was  made  b\-  the 
children  in  the  Industrial  School  in  Gujranwala,  India. 

Thursday  Afterxoox. 

No  doubt  one  of  the  most  practical  and  helpful  addresses  of  the 
Convention  was  that  given  by  Dr.  D.  F.  AIcGill,  on  the  subject, 
"Foreign  Missions  and  the  Pastor."  ]\Iany  suggestions  were 
given,  sr^h  as,  let  the  pastor  teach  his  people  to  pray  for  missions, 
specifically ;  keep  the  Sabbath  School  and  young  people  interested 
in  missions;  turn  the  weekly  prayer  meeting  into  a  missionary 
prayer  meeting  once  a  month ;  make  much  of  returned  mission- 
aries ;  let  the  pastor  master  one  good  missionary  book  and  then 
give  it  warm  and  condensed  to  his  people  in  one  or  more  sermons. 

Addresses  were  also  given  at  this  session  by  Mrs.  Annie  R. 
Herron,  President  of  the  Women's  Board,  on  "Foreign  Missions 
and  the  Women's  Missionary  Society,"  and  by  Mr.  C.  \'.  Vickery, 
Secretary  of  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement,  on  "For- 
eign Missions  in  the  Sabbath  School  and  Young  People's  Society." 
Both  of  these  addresses  were  helpful  and  encouraging.  A  confer- 
ence was  also  held  at  this  session,  when  one-minute  speeches  were 
heard  on  problems  of  the  Church  and  missions. 

One  of  the  beautiful  incidents  of  the  Convention  was  the 
singing  of  two  verses  of  the  23d  Psalm,  first  in  Hindustani,  by  the 
India  missionaries,  then  in  Arabic,  by  the  Egyptian  missionaries 
on  the  other  side  of  the  stage,  and  finally  in  English  by  the  whole 
great  assemblage. 


26  FORTilGX    MISSIOXAKV    J  T  U  1 1. 1- I",    C(  )X\KX'r!()X. 

Those  from  Egypt  could  not  join  their  bretliren  from  Indvd,  the 
latter  even,  being  from  different  districts,  were  not  all  familiar 
with  the  tune  used ;  but  all.  from  Dr.  McCague,  at  one  end  of  the 
line,  to  "Aunty"  Gordon  at  the  other,  could  sing  "The  Lord's  My 
Shepherd."  in  the  mother  tongue  to  grand  old  "Evan."  It  stirred 
every  heart.  (3ne  could  not  but  think  God's  children  on  earth- 
Hindu,  Egyptian,  Chinese,  American — cannot  sing  together  yet, 
but  when  all  get  home  to  the  Father's  house  then  all  will  know 
the  tune  and  the  words — the  new  .song,  the  song  of  Moses  and  the 
Lamb ! 

'riUKSD.W    l-2\KXIX(i, 

The  closing  address  of  the  great  Convention  was  given  Thurs- 
day evening  by  Dr.  A.  T.  Pierson,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y..  on  "The 
Sui)ernatural  Factor  in  Missions."  To  hear  this  address  the 
largest  audience  of  the  Convention  assembled,  literally  packing 
the  large  auditorium  from  platform  to  gallery.  He  showed  that 
the  most  desperate  assaults  are  being  made  upon  the  supernatural 
to-day  that  have  been  made  in  the  history  of  the  world.  And  yet 
if  there  be  no  supernatural  in  the  Bible  there  is  no  inspiration. 
H  none  in  Christ,  there  is  no  Saviour.  If  none  in  na- 
ture there  is  no  ( iod.  The  work  of  missions  gives  us  the 
evidence  of  the  supernatural.  .A  stud\-  of  missions  for  nearly 
fifty  years  gives  tlu'  l)eliil'  that  greater  miracles  have  been 
wrought  in  missions  than  tin-  physical  miracles  wrought  by  Christ 
hiiusrlf.  The  thiest  nKuhinery  will  nni  ace(>inj)lish  the  work  with- 
out (jod.  h'ind  out  (iod's  ])lans  and  follow  them.  Let  this  fiftieth 
anniversary  be  signalized  by  a  giving  of  every  pastor  and  member 
in  the  Church  unreservedly  to  (iod  and  i  lis  service.  The  doctor 
spoke  with  nnich  vigor  and  with  his  usual  animation,  and  at  the 
close  said  that  he  had  never  been  in  a  Convention  in  which  the 
addresses  averaged  so  will  as  this  one.  to  which  every  one  could 
surely  assi-nt.  After  the  .'idopiion  of  a  series  of  resolutions^"  re- 
garding the  future  advance-  work  and  a  ivw  earnest  words  spoken 
])y  the  i)astor  of  the  cluirh,  I  )r.  I\.  M.  Kussell,  in  which  he  led  the 
great  congregation  as  they  stood,  to  give  themselves  in  solemn 
pledges  to  Cod  to  pray  and  work  and  give  for  the  evangelization 
of  the  world,  the  (  onvention,  the  greatest  of  the  kind  ever  held 
in  our  ('hutch,  came  to  a  close  in  the  midst  of  dee])  and  solemn 
con.secration. 


^S(.■t■    JKljrc   27 


thk  pittshurg  convention.  27 

Outside  Testimony. 
An  article  which  appeared  in  "The  Missionary  Review  of  the 
World,"  describing-  this  Convention,  is  of  special  interest,  as  it 
-expresses  the  judgment  of  one  abundantly  qualified  (Rev.  A.  T. 
Pierson,  Editor-in-Chief)  to  judge,  and  standing  outside  the  de- 
nomination whose  special  interests  the  Convention  was  serving. 
We  quote  the  following  extract: 

"The  fifty  years  of  mission  work  in  Egypt  and  India,  conducted 
by  the  United  Presbyterians  of  America,  had  a  memorable  cele- 
bration at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  from  December  6th  to  8th.  We  have 
been  at  many  missionary  conventions  and  anniversaries,  and  at 
more  than  one  ecumenical  gathering,  but  we  have  never  seen  this 
one  surpassed  in  the  average  excellence  of  the  addresses,  the  gen- 
eral spirituality  of  tone  and  the  sanctified  common  sense  exhibited 
in  administration.  It  was  the  one  such  convention  where  the 
program  was  not  so  overloaded  that  speakers  were  embarrassed 
for  want  of  time.  There  was  no  impression  of  that  driving  haste 
which  is  the  blemish  upon  our  best  modern  type  of  social  and  even 
religious  life.  There  was  time  for  everything  that  was  planned, 
and  everything  worked  smoothly  and  harmoniously  from  be- 
ginning to  end.  Over  six  hundred  accredited  delegates  were  en- 
rolled, nearly  double  the  number  at  the  general  assemblies. 

"Throughout  we  heard  not  one  address  where  the  attempt  was 
obvious  to  make  a  rhetorical  or  oratorical  display.  There  was 
eloquence,. but  it  was  of  a  straightforward  treatment  of  a  theme, 
dignified  and  sometimes  majestic,  but  always  sober,  spiritual  and 
self-iorgetful.  The  audience  room  was  large,  but  not  too  large 
for  the  assemblies,  and  all  the  meetings  were  well  attended,  most 
of  them  thronged. 

"A  huge  map  of  the  world  hung  behind  the  platform  and  in- 
spiring Tuottoes  bla/^'d  from  the  walls  and  gallery  front,  with 
smaller  maps  of  India  and  Egypt.  The  singing-  was  especially 
uplifting,  and.  in  a  word,  all  the  accessories  befitted  a  grand 
-occasif^n." 

Resolutions. 

The  following  resolutions  were  unanimously  passed  by  the 
Convention  on  Thursday  evening,  December  8th : 

The  Executive  Committee  presented  the  following  resolutions: 

I.  That  we  express  deepest  gratitude  to  our  God  for  the 
marvelous  progress  and  achievements  of  our  missionary  work 
during  the  last  half  century. 

II.  That  this  Convention,  with  devout  thankfulness,  recognizes 
and  acknowledges  the  wonderful  Providence  of  God  in  bringing 
Great  Britain  to  the  first  place  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  the 
great  Protestant  power,  under  whose  strong  arm  civil  liberty  is 


28  fore;ign  missionary  jubilee:  convention. 

establislicd  and  justice  is  administered,  and  under  whose  protec- 
tion and  favor  our  missions  in  India,  Egypt  and  the  Sudan  are 
carrying  on  their  great  work,  and  we  oflfer  our  prayers  to  Al- 
mighty God  for  Mis  blessing  upon  his  Majesty,  the  King,  and  his 
Government : 

That  copies  of  this  resolution  be  sent  to  our  mission  in  India 
for  presentation  to  his  Excellency,  the  Right  Honorable,  the  Lord 
Curzon  of  Kedleston,  P.  C,  G.  M.  S.  I.,  M.  A..  F.  R.  S.,  j.  P., 
D.  L.,  G.  M.  I.  E.,  Viceroy  and  Governor-General  of  India,  and 
to  our  mission  in  Egypt  for  presentation'  to  his  Excellency,  the 
Right  Honorable,  the  Earl  of  Cromer,  G.  C.  B.,  G.  C.  M.  G.. 
K.  C.  S!  L.,  C.  I.  E.,  his  British  IMajesty's  Consul-General  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary,  and  to  our  mission  in  the  Sudan  for 
presentation  to  his  Excellency,  Major-General  Sir  Francis  Regi- 
nald Wingate,  K.  C.  M.  G.,  K.  C.  B.,  D.  S.  O.,  A.  D.  C.,  R.  A., 
Sirdar  of  the  Egyptian  Army  and  Governor-General  of  the  Sudan. 

III.  That  we  authorize  the  President  and  Secretary  to  sign  a 
petition  in  our  behalf  to  Secretary  Hay,  asking  him  to  use  his 
great  diplomatic  influence  to  emancipate  China  from  treaty  obliga- 
tions to  tolerate  the  opium  traffic. 

IV.  That  this  Convention,  through  our  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, send  a  message  of  encouragement  and  sympathy  to  our 
workers  in  our  foreign  fields.* 

V.  That  we  express  our  high  appreciation  of  the  splendid  pro- 
gram prepared,  and  tender  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  to  those  who 
have  addressed  us  on  this  great  occasion. 

VI.  That  hearty  thanks  are  due  and  are  hereby  expressed  to 
the  people  of  Pittsburg  and  vicinity,  and  of  the  Sixth  Church, 
Pittsburg,  in  particular,  for  their  large  and  kind  hospitality,  and 
to  all  others  who  have  ministered  to  our  comfort  while  here. 

\'II.  That  we  extend  our  thanks  to  the  press  for  the  advertise- 
ment and  reports  of  the  Convention. 

Thomas  liALrii, 

Prci^idenf. 
Thomas  McCaguk, 
Miss  Elizabeth  Gordon, 

MUS.    I).   S.    I.VTI.K, 

W.  S.  .McCn-KK. 

I'.    M.    Sl'KNc  KK. 

W.  C.  Adaik, 

Secretary. 

♦The  message  sent  was:    Ts.-ilm  joj.  s. 


Tlilv  PITTSBURG  CONVENTION.  29 

The  Coniniittee  appointed  by  the  Men's  Meeting  to  consider  the 
best  form  in  which  to  give  effectiveness  and  permanence  to  a 
Forivard  Missionary  Movement  presented  the  following  resolu- 
tions : 

( 1 )  Resolved,  That  we  heartily  endorse  the  position  taken  by 
the  Tarkio  General  Assembly,  viz. :  "The  appeal  of  our  Foreign 
Missionary  Association  in  India  and  Egypt,  for  a  definite  increase 
in  missionary  forces,  should  be  regarded  as  evidence  of  God's 
awakening  of  the  Church  to  a  clear  apprehension  of  her  missionary 
obligations,  and  with  the  aim  of  reaching  this  ideal  presented  by 
missionaries  in  the  field,  and  speedily  evangelizing  the  lands 
specially  entrusted  to  our  Church,  the  Board  is  instructed  to  begin 
a  campaign  of  interest  and  effort  whereby  through  individuals  and 
congregations  the  support  of  new  missionaries  and  their  work 
may  be  securued  without  endangering  or  weakenmg  the  support 
of  present  work." 

(2)  Resolved,  That  we  express  our  conviction  that  our  Church 
is  well  able  at  the  present  time  to  supply  all  the  financial  support 
involved  in  such  an  attempt  to  occupy  and  evangelize  our  mission 
fields,  if  only  the  Scriptural  principles  of  Christian  stewardship ; 
of  weekly,  worshipful  and  proportionate  giving,  and  of  habitual 
sacrifice  for  Christ's  sake,  be  accepted  and  acted  upon  b}-  all  our 
members. 

(3)  Resolved,  That  in  order  to  the  awakening  of  cur  Church  to 
her  privilege  and  responsibility  in  this  matter,  we  recommend  the 
organization  of  a  Men's  Missionary  League  in  every  congregation, 
the  object  of  which  shall  be  (a)  to  promote  more  thorough  intelli- 
gence regarding  missionary  problems;  (b)  to  offer  united  prayer 
for  the  coming  of  the  Universal  Kingdom  of  Christ,  and  (c)  by 
example  and  effort  to  promote  weekly,  proportionate  and  self- 
sacrificing  giving  to  the  work  of  the  world's  redemption. 

(4)  Resolved,  That  general  oversight  and  direction  of  this 
movement  be  intrusted  to  an  Executive  Committee  of  seven  mem- 
bers, and  that  an  Advisory  Council  of  twenty-one  members  be 
appointed  by  the  Executive  Committee  to  confer  and  co-operate 
with  them.  And  we  nominate  the  following  seven  men  to  be 
members  of  the  Executive  Committee : 

Mr.  A.  P.  Burchfield,  Chairman. 
Mr.  W.  S.  Heade,  Cambridge,  Ohio. 
Mr.  George  M.  Paden,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 
Mr.  Percy  L.  Craig,  New  Castle,  Pa. 
Mr.  J.  Campbell  White,  Allegheny,  Pa. 


80  FoRIvlGX    MISSIONARY    JUBILTvIv    CONVENTION. 

Mr.  Hugh  Kennedy.  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Mr.  John  H.  Murdoch,  Washington,  Pa. 

(5)  Resolved,  That  the  delegates  to  this  Convention  be  and  the 
same  are  hereby  instructed  to  carry  to  the  men  of  their  congrega- 
tions a  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  men's  meeting,  held  on 
Wednesday  evening,  and  that  they  be  specially  charged  to  lay 
before  the  men  of  their  congregation  a  full  explanation  of  the  i)lan 
for  organizing  Men's  Missionary  Leagues  suggested  by  this  Con- 
vention, and  to  urge  upon  them  its  adoption ;  and  that  in  cases 
where  congregations  have  not  been  represented  at  this  Conven- 
tion, pastors  be  urged  to  bring  the  matter  before  the  men  of  their 
congregation. 

(6)  Resolved,  That  we  instruct  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Men's  Missionary  League  to  publish  the  address  of  Mr.  J. 
Campbell  White,  on  "The  Greatest  Business  in  the  World,"  in 
form  suitable  for  wide  distribution  among  the  churches.  All  of 
which  is  respectfully  submitted. 

Thos.  J.  Gillespie,  Chairman ; 

W.  S.  Heade, 

R.  C.  McMasters, 

D.  T.  Reed, 

Rev.  B.  a.  McBride, 

J.  A.  Lefkar, 

Samuel  Young, 

Co)iuniffce. 

The  Co\vi:n'i  io.n   Exiiinrr.* 

It  was  a  happy  thought  of  those  who  planned  for  the  great 
Convention  to  have  an  exhibit  of  curios  and  other  objects  of  inter- 
est from  the  lands  which  have  been  the  scene  of  our  Church's 
missionary  efforts  during  the  last  fifty  years.  Perhaps  the  com- 
mittee themselves  did  not  realize  how  great  would  be  the  work- 
involved  in  projjcrly  placing  these  objects  for  the  public  view,  in 
caring  for  them  while  here  and  in  returning  them  unim])aired  to 
their  owners.  lUit  surely  they  were  richly  rewarded  in  tin-  ap]>re- 
ciation  of  the  crowds  which  thronged  the  rooms  whenever  ihey 
were  opened  and  listened  with  close  attention  to  the  words  of  the 
nii.ssionarics  who  were  there  to  explain.  It  will  be  but  an  iniiKM-- 
fect  idea  of  the  extent  and  interest  of  the  exhil)ition  that  will  be 
possible  within  the  necessary  limits  of  this  article. 


♦This  article   also  appeared   in    The   United    Preshytcrian   of   December 
15.    "><M 


'SlU'kC.   COW'KXTION.  31 


Cl'RIOS    I"R(>M     INDIA. 


Pcr]ia])s  the  most  striking-  thing-  in  the  Jndia  exhibit  was  the 
model  of  a  village.  Iliis  was  some  seven  or  eight  feet  long,  with 
figures  a  few  inches  high,  representing  the  varied  scenes  of  the 
ordinary  life  of  India.  The  clay  homes  of  the  villagers  arc  shown 
and  the  bazars  or  shops.  The  Alohammedan  moscjue  and  Hindu 
temple,  easily  distinguishable  by  the  characteristic  architecture  of 
each,  may  be  seen.  Here  is  the  Persian  w'heel  for  raising  water 
for  irrigation  and  domestic  purposes,  whose  harsh  creaking  is  one 
of  the  characteristic  sounds  of  India.  Reside  it  the  washerman  is 
at  his  work  and  the  women  are  coming  from  various  directions, 
bringing  vessels  to  be  filled.  Not  far  away  the  work  of  the 
threshing  floor  is  in  progress.  The  vicissitudes  of  human  life  are 
illustrated.  A  Mohammedan  funeral  is  passing  along  with  the 
body  of  the  dead  prepared  for  burial ;  Hindus  are  bearing  a  corpse 
to  the  place  of  burning;  a  bridal  procession  is  seen,  the  bride 
riding  under  a  rich  canopy,  the  groom  following  on  horseback 
with  his  "best  man''  riding  behind  him  and  the  friends  of  the 
groom  and  bride  preceding  and  following  the  happy  pair. 

In  another  part  of  the  village  the  local  magistrate  hears  causes 
and  dispenses  justice  according  to  his  lights.  In  still  another 
place  the  snake  charmer  plies  his  unattractive  trade.  Most  inter- 
esting, perhaps,  from  our  point  of  view,  is  the  train  of  three 
camel^,  which  is  just  entering  the  village,  for  it  bears  the  tents 
and  housekeeping  equipments  of  the  missionary  on  his  itinerating 
tour.  P)Ut  the  missionary  himself  has  already  arrived,  and,  seated 
under  a  tree  with  a  native  helper,  is  explaining  the  Gospel  to  those 
who  will  listen. 

Turning  from  this  representation  of  the  daily  lite  of  India,  we 
are  attracted  by  the  beautiful  embroideries  which  show  the  skill 
of  the  women  of  India.  One  is  especially  interesting,  because  it 
is.  the  work  of  one  of  the  wives  of  Runjit  Singh,  who  so  long  with- 
stood the  advance  of  IJritish  power.  An  alabaster  model  of  the 
Taj  Mahal  gives  a  faint  idea  of  this  the  most  beautiful  building  of 
the  world,  the  tomb  of  the  beloved  wife  of  a  great  Mohammedan 
ruler.  We  see  exquisitely  carved  tables,  some  of  them  inlaid  with 
pearl.  Have  we  not  yet  something  to  learn  from  the  patient 
toilers  of  India  ?  How  poorly  does  the  furuniture  turned  out  from 
our  great  factories  compare  with  this  work  of  unknown  men  in 
humble  homes ! 

We  look  with  pleasure  on  the  books  which  are  to  aid  in  the 
enlightenment  of  India.    The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Gospel 


82  FORlilGN    MISSIONARY    JUBII:.e:K    COXVEXTlOX. 

of  Jolin  arc  here  in  I'nnjabi.  Our  old  friend,  the  Shorter  Cate- 
chism in  Urdu,  is  close  beside  a  Persian  primer.  We  are  re- 
minded of  the  languages  which  our  missionaries  must  master 
before,  in  the  Punjab,  every  man  can  hear  in  his  own  tongue  "the 
wonderful  works  of  God." 

THE    EGYPTIAN    EXHIBIT. 

In  the  Egyptian  exhibit  we  .find  much  that  is  similar  to  that  of 
India.  There  are  embroideries  which  make  us  covetous,  dainty 
laces  and  drawn  work  which  put  to  shame  our  clumsy  handiwork. 
Much  of  this  is  the  work  of  the  girls  in  the  boarding  schools  at 
Luxor  and  Assiut  and  Cairo.  There  are  beaten  brasses  and 
carved  frames  and  book  rests  of  exquisite  workmanship.  We 
sec  the  rough  hand  mill  with  which  the  women  still  grind  the 
wheat.  The  jirocess  of  making  bread  is  illustrated  by  pictures 
from  the  time  when  it  is  raised,  often  on  the  roof  of  the  house, 
until  it  is  taken  from  the  oven  and  tossed  on  the  floor.  Brick- 
making  and  farming  are  also  illustrated  by  pictures,  and  for  the 
latter  there  are  models  of  the  principal  implements  used — the 
plow,  the  seed  coverer,  the  threshing  floor,  the  fan  which  separates 
the  chaff  from  the  wheat.  Specimens  of  agricultural  products  of. 
Egypt  are  there — the  red  pottage,  for  which  Esau  longed ;  the 
carob  pod,  the  food  of  the  hungry  prodigal ;  dried  dates ;  a  prepa- 
ration of  wheat  made  by  the  women  for  use  in  time  of  sickness 
and  trouble ;  the  ''bitter  bread"  of  sorrow.  Pottery,  ancient  and 
modern,  formed  an  interesting  exhibit.  From  mummy  cases  came 
beads  and  tiny  images,  representing  the  soul.  A  family  of  mum- 
mified cats — the  mother  and  two  kittens — came  from  the  old 
sacred  cat  cemetery  at  Rcni  Hassan. 

.\n  I'.dison  phonograph  sings  an  Arabic  song  for  our  entertain- 
ment. A  l)eautiful  co])y  of  the  Koran  lies  on  a  table  with  Arabic 
liibles  of  many  varieties, bearing  the  imprint  of  the  American  P.ible 
Society.  A  tile  of  "'I'lie  (  iuide"  for  i()00.  ihe  organ  of  I'nited 
Presbyterianism  in  l\gypt,  is  shown.  Interesting  photographs  of 
persons  and  of  iilaccs  arc  on  ihc  walls.  One  esjiecially  noticeable 
shows  the  venerable  face  of  TadruN,  the  Hrst  native  minister  of 
our  mission  in  I\gy|)t. 

M  i:\loKI.\l.S   0|-     11 1 1",   SUDAN. 

Most  inlercxting  of  all.  iierhaps,  was  the  e\liil)ii  from  the 
Sudan.  W.ar  an<l  tlu'  pursuit  of  game  form  so  large  a  part  of  the 
life  <if  the  savage  lliat   spears  with  metal  ])oinls  and  sliieUls  matle 


THE  riTTSBURG  CONVENTION.  33 

■of  the  skin  of  the  giraffe  or  the  hippopotamus  are  numerous.  A 
quantity  of  Hght  wood,  one-half  the  specific  gravity  of  cork,  shows 
us  the  material  of  which  the  Sudanese  boats  are  made.  Shells 
from  the  battlefield  of  Omdurman  and  a  chieftain's  hat,  picked  up 
by  Dr.  Gift'en  on  the  same  field,  remind  us  of  the  awful  war  of  the 
Mahdi,  which  desolated  the  country  for  eighteen  years.  The 
"full  dress"  of  a  Sudanese  gentleman  consists  of  a  string  of 
ostrich  shell  beads  around  the  waist,  and  a  number  of  these  were 
on  exhibition.  There  was  also  the  fruit  of  the  dolaib  palm,  the 
tree  which  gives  its  name  to  the  hill  on  which  our  mission  station 
is  located.  The  rude  beginnings  of  the  arts  and  crafts  among  these 
people  were  in  the  exhibit.  Coarse  cloth,  woven  from  the  cotton 
of  the  country,  was  there.  The  figure  of  a  snake  of  jointed  pieces 
of  wood,  colored  to  represent  the  skin,  was  not  very  attractive,  but 
interesting.  A  basket,  woven  of  colored  grasses,  was  really  pretty. 
L'ooking  at  these  things,  one  could  not  but  feel  something  of 
pathos  in  the  efforts  of  these  children  of  nature.  They  seemed  to 
say.  "We  are  human  beings ;  already  for  ages  we  have  shared  the 
sin  and  sorrow  of  the  race.  ]\lay  we  not  also  be  partakers  of  the 
common  salvation  ?" 

Scattered  through  all  the  exhibits  were  maps  and  diagrams 
showing  how  small  a  proportion  of  our  mission  fields  we  have 
-already  occupied.  No  one  could  look  at  these  without  a  deeper 
sense  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work  given  to  our  Church  to  accom- 
plish. 


III.     THE  SIGNIFICANCE  AND  VALUE  OF  THE 
CELEBRATION. 

The  full  value  of  the  Semi-Centennial  Foreign  Missionary  Cele- 
bration of  1904.  cannot  be  measured.  Its  influence  upon  the  life  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America  will  only  be 
seen  in  the  record  of  years  of  service  still  awaiting  their  unfolding. 
We  can  indicate,  however,  certain  general  values  which  this  cele- 
bration clearly  possessed : 

I.  The  Educational  Value:  The  foundation  of  all  abiding 
missionary  interest  must  lie  in  a  knowledge  of  missionary  prin- 
ciples, conditions,  methods,  facts.  "Know  and  you  will  feel! 
Know  and  you  will  pray!  Know  and  you  will  help !"  The  Semi- 
Centennial  Foreign  Missionary  Celebration  was  a  natural  and 
supreme  opportunity  for  acquainting  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  with  the  history,  the  progress  and  the  needs  of  her  foreign 
missionary  work.  An  entire  generation  of  church  members  had 
come  into  the  Church  since  the  establishment  of  the  missions  in 
India  and  Egypt.  To  many  of  the  older  generation,  too,  the 
great  historic  facts  and  characters  of  the  early  decades  of  mis- 
sionary endeavor  were  altogether  unknown.  In  this  celebration 
the  missionary  history  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  was 
reviewed  and  that  history  itself  became  an  argument,  an  example 
and  an  inspiration  to  larger  missionary  endeavor  for  the  future, 
"it  was  made  clear,"  wrote  one  pastor,  "that  it  belongs  to  the 
genius  rif  our  denomination  to  be  missionary;  that  we  are  the  off- 
spring of  missionary  movements  and  .must  be  true  to  our 
pedigree." 

The  eflucation  of  the  Church  extended  not  only  to  the  history 
of  her  past  efforts,  but  also  to  the  record  of  her  present  achieve- 
ments. Progress  is  not  easily  recognized  from  year  to  year.  Even 
periods  of  work  a  decade  in  length  do  not  always  furnish  unmis- 
takable proofs  of  progress.  The  institutional  development  of  a 
mission,  the  birth  and  growth  of  a  native  church,  its  exercise  of 
the  faculties  of  self-support,  self-direction  and  self-extension, 
these  arc  nsults  of  missionary  work  for  which  the  Church  may 
well  wait  h.ilf  a  century  or  even  a  century  to  see.     In  this  Semi- 

34 


SIGNir'TCAXCr;  AXD  VALUp;  OF  TIIF;  CRLKBKA'noX.  35 

Centennial  Celebration  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  was 
awakened  to  a  recognition  of  work  accomplished,  of  victories 
won,  of  results  achieved  which  no  sceptic  of  missions  could 
gainsay. 

The  education  of  the  Church  extended  also  to  an  ai)i)reciation 
of  the  needs  of  her  foreign  missionary  work.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  by  any  other  single  experience,  unless  it  was  by  the 
appeals  which  came  from  India  and  Egypt  in  1902  and  1903.  the 
Church  was  brought  to  such  a  recognition  of  the  needs  of  her 
missions  as  she  attained  to  by  this  Semi-Centennial  Celebration. 
In  pulpit,  Sabbath  school  and  Young  People's  meeting,  in  conven- 
tion, prayer  meeting  and  missionary  society,  the  needs  of  our 
foreign  missions  were  rehearsed  and  emphasized.  Charts  and 
illustrations,  arguments  and  diagrams  were  brought  into  play  to 
bring  home  to  the  consciousness  of  the  Church  the  appalling  needs 
of  our  foreign  fields.  The  elation  over  past  successes  was  tempered 
by  a  sense  of  solemn  responsibility  and  awe  because  of  the  task 
which  yet  remained  to  be  accomplished. 

II.  The  Spiritual  Value :  Every  part  of  the  Semi-Centennial 
Foreign  Missionary  Celebration  had  a  spiritual  tone  and  char- 
acter which  gave  both  sweetness  and  power  to  the  movement. 
The  celebration  was  not  an  effort  to  glorify  man  or  method.  It 
was  not  even  an  eiifort  to  exalt  the  denomination  and  its  work. 
The  hftman  instrumentalities  were  lost  sight  of  in  a  joyful,  soul 
stirring  contemplation  of  the  divine  power  and  the  divine  person 
who  had  w^orked  through  them. 

The  Church  enjoyed  a  deeper  consciousness  of  her  Lord's  pres- 
ence, as  she  traced  the  working  of  His  power  in  the  extension  of 
His  kingdom.  A  deeper  fellowship  with  Him  resulted  from  her 
study  of  that  cause  which  lay  so  near  to  His  heart.  A  stronger 
faith  w^as  hers  as  she  listened  to  the  story  of  His  faithfulness  in  a 
full  half  century  of  missionary  experience.  The  Celebration 
brought  the  Church  into  closer  fellowship  and  acquaintance  with 
her  Lord. 

It  also  gave  to  the  Church  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  chief 
purpose  of  her  own  existence.  "Missions  the  Supreme  End  of  the 
Church."  This  was  the  motto  which  looked  every  man  in  the 
face,  not  only  at  the  Pittsburg  Convention,  but  throughout  the 
entire  Semi-Centennial  Celebration.  Again  and  again  throughout 
the  Celebration  one  and  another  caught  a  vision  of  this  glorious 
aim  and  end  of  the  Church :  To  give  Jesus  Christ  to  the  world. 
The  clear  recognition  of  this  supreme  aim  of  the  Church  was  a 


36  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBII.EE    CONVENTION. 

spiritual  force  in  itself.  It  sanctilied  and  ennobled  every  other 
aim  by  relegating  it  to  a  second  place.  The  preservation  of  the 
truth  was  to  be  accomplished,  not  by  burying  it  in  mere  defini- 
tions, but  rather  by  wielding  it  as  a  battle  axe  in  the  conquest  of 
the  world.  The  development  of  Christian  character  became  a 
worthier  work  when  the  Church  made  it  only  the  means  for  trans- 
mitting to  the  world  the  power  of  God  unto  the  salvation  of  men. 
The  baptism  of  the  Church  by  the  Spirit  of  power  was  seen  to  be 
only  in  order  to  enable  the  Church  to  realize  the  chief  aim  of  her 
existence.  The  conviction  which  a  pastor  expressed  as  resulting  to 
him  from  this  Celebration  was,  "We  cannot  reasonably  expect  the 
manifest  presence  and  blessing  of  Christ,  as  pledged  in  the  great 
commission,  unless  we  carry  out  the  missionary  order  which  in- 
troduced it  and  is  regnant  over  it." 

HI.  The  Practical  Value:  All  the  influences  of  the  Celebra- 
tion that  have  been  noted  must  be  of  practical  value  to  the  Church 
both  for  the  present  and  for  the  years  which  are  to  come.  Yet 
there  are  those  who  expect  every  great  occasion  to  leave  behind 
some  concrete  monument.  It  is  natural,  too,  that  a  rally  of 
such  interest  as  this  Semi-Centennial  Celebration  proved  to  be, 
should  give  birth  to  some  definite  movement  or  organization. 

For  a  time  it  was  the  thought  of  those  who  had  most  to  do  with 
the  Missionary  Celebration  that  the  occasion  might  lend  itself 
to  the  establishment  of  some  large  Missionary  Fund,  which  would 
stand  as  a  monument  to  this  Jubilee  Year  and  meet  the  pressing 
needs  for  institutional  and  other  equipment  in  Egypt  and  India. 
On  consultation  with  the  Commission  appointed  to  arrange  for 
an  adequate  Celebration  of  the  Semi-Centennial  of  Church  Union, 
in  1908,  this  project  was  abandoned,  for  it  was  found  that  plans 
for  that  later  Celebration  involved  the  raising  of  a  Semi-Centen- 
nial Fund,  and  the  Commission  felt  that  i.n  effort  in  that  direction 
in  i</)4  would  oi)erate  unfavorably  upon  the  plans  for  1908.  For 
these  reasons  no  direct  financial  movement  characterized  the 
Semi-Centennial  Foreign  Missionary  Celebration. 

Yet  this  Celebration  has  not  passed  without  leaving  behind  it  a 
distinct  movement,  which  may  lead  we  know  not  to  what  im- 
portant and  far-reaching  results  for  the  extension  of  God's  king- 
dom in  the  wrjrlil.  \\c  refer  to  the  movement  of  Men's  Mission- 
ary Leagues,  which  came  into  organic  existence  through  the 
action  of  the  I'itlshurg  Convention,  when  it  acbpted.  at  its  closing 
session,  the  resolutions  i)resented  hy  the  special  committee  ap- 
pointed at  the  Men's  Meeting  on  Wednesday  night,  necenil)er  7th. 


SIGNIFICANCI;  AND  VALUE)  OF  THE  CE;lE;bRATION.  37' 

It  is  too  early  to  speak  concerning  the  progress  of  this  move- 
ment. If  it  enlists  the  men  of  the  Church  in  an  honest,  serious 
endeavor  to  actually  accomplish  the  task  of  giving  Jesus  Christ 
to  the  world ;  if  it  creates  among  men  an  interest  and  a  force 
commensurate  with  that  which  exists  among  women  through  the 
Women's  Missionary  Societies ;  if  it  brings  to  the  reinforcement 
of  Christ's  cause  an  organization  and  a  power  such  as  the  Lay- 
men's Guilds  of  Great  Britain  have  brought  to  the  great  Church 
^Missionary  Society  of  Great  Britain — then,  without  fear  of  con- 
tradiction on  any  hand,  we  may  say,  Here  is  the  greatest  contribu- 
tion and  the  greatest  monument  of  the  Semi-Centennial  Foreign- 
Missionary  Celebration  of  1904. 

C.  R.  W. 


TUESDAY  EVENING. 

A  Convention  Foreword:     Rev.  C.  S.  Cleland. 

The  Place  of  Missions  in  the  Thought  of  God:     Mr.  Robert  E. 
Speer. 


A  CONVENTION  FOREWORD. 

THE    REV.    C.    S.    CLELA-M). 

This  is  certainly  an  auspicious  occasion  ;  one  of  the  brig-litest 
and  best  moments  in  the  Hfe  of  our  Church.  \\'e  have  reached 
the  fiftieth  milestone  in  our  missionary  progress  in  Eg-y])t  and 
India,  and  are  here  gathered  to  celebrate  the  event. 

In  some  respects  this  is  perhaps  the  most  notable  convention 
our  Church  has  ever  held.  It  is  notable  for  the  impulse  of  prayer 
and  sympathy  with  which  it  meets.  It  is  notable,  too.  for  its 
distinctively  jubilee  character.  It  does  not  contemj^late  the  future 
so  much  as  the  past.  It  is  the  joyful  commemoration  of  successes 
achieved,  of  victories  won.  of  permanent  work  established  through 
the  blessing  of  God. 

Standing  at  the  threshold  of  this  ccMivention,  I  wish  first  of  all 
to  congratulate  you,  as  I  do  myself,  on  the  fact  that  we  belong  to 
a  Missionary  Church.  No  matter  how  many  other  good  points  a 
church  may  possess,  if  it  is  not  definitely  missionary  in  its  spirit 
and  endeavor  it  is  not  the  church  to  which  you  and  I  would  care  to 
belong.  Fortunately  ours  is.  and  always  has  been,  a  Missionary 
Church.  It  was  born  of  missionary  ancestors  ;  it  inherited  at  l)irth 
a  mission  field,  and  during  all  these  }'ears  it  has  been  endeavoring. 
as  it  had  opportunity  and  ability,  to  go  into  all  the  wcir'd  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature 

()ur  thoughts,  on  this  anniversary  occasion,  naturall\-  revert  to 
the  commencement  of  our  foreign  work.  It  was  fifty  years  ago  on 
the  28th  of  last  September  that  our  pi(^neer  missionaries.  Rev.  and 
Mrs.  Andrew  Gordon  and  ]\Iiss  Elizabeth  Gordon,  sailed  from 
New  York  for  India.  Two  days  later,  on  September  30th,  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  Thomas  McCague  sailed  from  Philadelphia  to  ])egin 
work  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  The  latter  party  reached  its  <lestination 
in  Cairo  on  the  15th  of  November,  ^^'ithin  a  few  weeks  it  was 
joined  by  Rev.  James  Barnett,  who  for  a  number  of  years  had 
been  working  in  Damascus,  Syria.  Three  persons,  therefore,  con- 
stituted the  nucleus  of  our  missionary  force  in  the  land  of  the  Nile. 
The  India  party  did  not  reach  Calcutta  mitil  the  13th  of  k\'bruary. 

41 


42  rORKlCN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE   CONVENTION, 

1855.  and  it  was  ihr  Stli  of  Aii-u^t  o\  tlial  vcar  l.cforc  Slalkot  was 
rcaclicil  and  niissionarx   work  aclually  bej^un. 

Xow.  in  order  that  wc-  may  liavt-  some  conception  of  the  ditifi- 
culties  under  which  our  foreii^n  service  was  undertaken,  tliere  are 
certain  facts  whicli  we  nmst  bear  in  mind  : 

I'irst,  'Idle  harvest  was  great,  the  kiborcrs  were  few.  Judg-ed 
by  human  stanckirds.  there  was  an  utter  lack  of  proportion  be- 
tween the  work  to  ])e  done  and  the  workint,^  force  sent  to  do  it. 
Six  missionaries  amon.^'  the  millions  of  l\i2;y]n  and  the  Punjab!' 
(  )ne  is  ready  to  exclaim.  •"What  were  they  amono-  so  many?" 
Would  it  not  be  (|uite  as  reasonable  to  exi)ect  six  persons  to  dip 
the  ocean  dr\-  or  to  count,  one  by  one.  the  sands  upon  its  shore,  as 
to  ex])ect  that  little  company  of  missionaries,  sent  into  the  midst 
of  .Q^reat  dark  lands,  to  i^ive  to  the  millions  of  their  people  the  Hght 
of  the  glorious  ( iospel  of  Christ  ?  The  greatness  of  the  field  to  be 
occupied  and  cared  for  was  the  first  difficulty  our  missionaries  had 
to  face. 

Second,  The  work  was  hegim  with  a])S(^lutel\-  no  equipment  or 
encouragement.  The  nn'ssionaries,  with  one  exception,  were 
vvliolly  unac(|uainted  with  the  language  of  the  countries.  They 
had  no  churches,  no  schools,  iv)  h()S])itals,  no  native  helpers.  They 
stood  alone,  as  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  wilderness,  with  none  to 
syni])athi7.e.  none  to  take  them  by  the  hand  with  an  encotiraging 
word  or  a  suggestion  as  to  the  best  method  of  inaugurating  the 
work.  It  is  im])ossible  for  us  now  to  have  any  adequate  concep- 
tion of  what  such  conditions  meant  to  the  missionaries.  It  was  a 
tinu'  when  the  .strongest  faith  was  tried  almost  beyond  its  limit 
of  endurance.  I'.ut  ( lod  ga\e  needt'd  grace  and  patience,  and  in 
due  time  the  work  was  commenced. 

Thir<l.  The  moral  and  intellectual  condition  of  Ihe  people  was 
most  ile])lorabU'.  Tlu'y  wert-  without  (  iod  and  without '  hope. 
'J'hey  were  religious.  biU  their  religion  was  intiniteb  debasing. 
I'rofessing  themselves  wise.  the\  were  in  realil\  fools;  changing 
the  glory  of  the  incorruptible  (lod  for  the  likeness  of  an  image  of 
corruptible  man.  and  of  birds  .-md  four-footed  beasts  and  creeping 
things.  Intellectually  their  condition  was  no  la'tter.  I'"ven  to-day, 
in  h'gyi)t.  after  so  many  \ears  of  I'.ritish  rule,  only  1  _>  per  cent,  of 
the  inhabitants  can  read  or  write.  In  India  only  5  per  cent,  can  do 
so.  iMtty  years  ago  scarcely  one,  excepting  among  the  higher 
classes,  could  n-ad  or  write.  We  can  readily  understand  how 
difficult  such  ignorance  would  make  the  missionary's  work.  The 
printed  page  was  of  little  use.      In  ,,ur  work  at  home  we  depend 


A  con\'h;ntion  toKiiwoKi).  43 

much  on  this  agency.  We  place  the  Bible  or  other  Christian  litera- 
ture in  the  hands  of  men,  and  our  hope  is  that  as  they  read  they 
will  be  enlightened  and  saved.  But  the  Pioneer  Missionary  had 
no  such  hope.  The  people  could  not  read.  The  only  work  that 
could  be  done  among-  them  was  personal,  hand  to  hand  work.  As 
soon  as  the  missionary  had  mastered  the  language  sufficiently  to 
enable  him  to  do  so,  he  must  take  the  Word  to  this  individual  or 
to  that  one,  and.  sitting  down,  must  interpret  to  him  with  infinite 
])atience  its  message  of  life. 

In  the  presence  of  such  difficulties  oiu"  work  in  Egypt  and  India 
was  begun.  Mfty  Acars  have  come  and  gone,  and  to-night  our 
Church  gathers  in  this  representative  convention  to  consider  re- 
sults. I  las  our  foreign  missionary  work  been  successful  ?  In 
seeking  an  answer  to  this  cjuestion  it  seems  necessary  to  confine 
ourselves  almost  wholly  to  statistics,  although  to  do  so  is  not  satis- 
factory. We  ail  realize  that  there  have  been  many  blessed  results 
of  this  work  which  do  nc^t  appear  in  any  statistical  record.  For 
instance,  it  is  believed  that  at  present  not  less  than  100,000  lives 
are  annually  touched  and  in  some  measure  influenced  by  the 
Gospel  in  (^ur  mission  fields.  Of  these,  however,  many  are  never 
mentioned  in  statistical  reports.  These  lives  come  under  the 
Gospel  power  only  for  a  day  or  perhaps  an  hour  and  then  go  out, 
no  maif  knows  whither.  Eternity  alone  will  show  what  the  results 
have  been.  Rut,  so  far  as  figures  go,  they  may  be  referred  to  as 
showing  the  progress  of  our  work.  A  general  glance  at  the  statis- 
tical record  reveals  that,  at  first,  the  success  so  far  as  actual  in- 
gathering is  concerned  was  small  indeed.  In  India  the  mission- 
aries toiled  and  waited  more  than  two  years  before  they  saw 
definite  results  in  the  way  of  conversions.  At  length  two  persons, 
one  from  the  highest  caste  and  the  other  from  the  lowest  caste, 
were  w(mi,  and  these  two  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  native  church 
in  the  runjal).  In  Egypt  the  period  of  waiting  was  nearly  five 
years,  and  then  God  rewarded  the  patience  of  the  missionaries 
with  four  converts.  From  this  small  beginning  the  work  gradually 
enlarged.  It  gathered  volume  and  force.  The  number  of  converts 
increased  year  by  year  until,  at  the  present  time,  the\  are  counted 
by  the  hundreds  and  some  years  by  the  thousands.  The  progress 
of  our  work  may  be  illustrated  by  a  railway  train.  Down  at  the 
station  to-night  a  heavy  train  stands  awaiting  the  signal  to  start 
on  its  long  journey  across  the  State.  The  signal  is  given  to  go, 
but  the  difficulty  is  in  starting.  The  ponderous  locomotive  is 
taxed  to  the  last  ounce  of  its  strength  in  overcoming  the  inertia 


44  I-OR^IGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEF,    CONVENTION. 

and  getting  the  wheels  in  motion.  When  this  is  accomplished 
little  headway  is  made  for  a  time.  One  is  tempted  to  ask  as  he 
sees  the  sl(nv'progress  made,  "Will  that  train  ever  reach  its  desti- 
nation ?"  r.nt  gradually  the  speed  increases.  From  five  or  ten 
miles  an  hour  it  increases  to  twenty  miles,  and  then  to  thirty  and 
to  forty.  Presently,  at  well  nigh  a  mile  a  minute,  that  great  train 
is  rushing  along,  and  seems  to  do  so  with  perfect  ease.  Now,  very 
similar  to  this  has  been  our  experience  in  the  foreign  field.  Fifty 
years  ago  the  Church  gave  the  signal  to  start  the  work.  It  was 
done,  but  in  the  face  of  many  and  great  difficulties.  The  progress 
was  at  first  very  slow.  Two  years,  four  years  passed,  and  scarcelv 
anything  had  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  actual  ingathering. 
Then  ten  years  more  passed.  The  work  was  now  going  with 
greater  ease  and  success,  but  still  without  remarkable  develop- 
ment. The  next  ten  years  showed  greater  progress.  The  gath- 
ered momentum  was  sending  the  work  on  more  rapidly  and  wnth 
better  results  than  ever  before,  .'^ince  then  the  progress  made  has 
been  steadily  increasing,  and,  wdiile  we  do  not  claim  to  have 
reached  the  highest  limit  of  speed,  still  there  is  no  doubt  that  we 
are  going  forward  at  a  greater  rate  now  than  at  any  time  in  the 
past.  In  India  more  than  one-third  of  the  present  church  mem- 
bership has  l)een  added  within  the  last  three  years.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  see  that  if  the  present  ratio  of  increaise  continues  it  will 
not  l)e  a  great  many  years  until  we  shall  have  a  larger  nienihership 
in  the  foreign  church  than  we  liave  now  at  home. 

But  let  us  examine  our  statistical  record  a  little  mori'  in  detail. 
Combining  the  reports  of  the  two  fields  for  the  sake  of  clearness 
and  noting  the  figures  at  intervals  of  ten  years,  beginning  with 
January  T.  1856.  we  find  that  they  read  as  follows: 

0>\i^(ini::rd  Co;/.i:/-r-a//o//.y— 1856,  o;  iSr/),  4:  1876,  8:  1886.  31  ; 
181/),  51  ;  T904,  81. 

Membership— iSsCy,  o;  1866,  114;  1876.829;  1886,4019;  1896, 
11,586;  1904.  16.434. 

/'iiplls  in  Schools— \S,sf\  jo"' :  1866.  (;oo'= ;  1876,  22()4 :  i88(5, 
8674;  i8t/);  17.131:  I 'KM-  2o,f/)4. 

'J'hese  figures  tell  of  tlir  i)ri)grt'ss  made  along  on!}-  Ihvvv  lines  of 
the  work.  If  time  ])ermitted  it  could  be  shown  that  there  has  been 
the  .same  ratio  of  advancement  in  all  other  departments. 

Now,  what  is  the  story  that  these  figures  relate?  It  is  the  story 
of  the  mustard  seed  ;  of  the  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain  :  of  the 
handful  of  corn  sown   in  the  earth.     'Hie  nuistard  seed   is  small. 

*,'\l)Iir(i.\iiii.-ttr. 


A    COXVIvXTlOX    l'()RiC\V(1Rl).  45 

but  it  is  planted  and  grows,  and  by  and  by  1)ocomes  a  great  bcrb. 
Tbe  stone  cut  out  of  the  mountain  is  little,  but  it  expands,  and  in 
<lue  time  fills  the  whole  earth.  The  corn  is  but  a  handful,  an  insig- 
nificantly small  amount,  but  it  is  sown  in  the  earth  on  the  top  of 
the  mountains^  and  now  the  fruit  thereof  shakes  like  Lebanon. 
.'Purely  our  foreign  work  has  been  blessed  with  large  results.  Even 
if  it  had  not  been,  we  should  still  have  gone  on  with  it,  because  it, 
is  not  results  in  conversions  that  the  Church  is  accountable  for, 
but  fidelity  to  its  great  commission.  God  has,  however,  not  asked 
us  to  toil  without  visible  results.  He  has  given  us  harvests  rich 
and  abundant  as  the  reward  of  our  sowing.  lie  has  given  us  large 
returns  for  the  capital  we  have  invested.  It  is  true  we  have  in- 
vested not  a  little  in  this  work.  We  have  given  2t,2  of  our  best 
Mien  and  women  to  it.  We  have  contributed  four  millinn  dollars 
of  our  money.  We  have  put  in  fifty  years  of  hard  work  and  con- 
stant prayer.  This  is  our  expenditure.  I'.ut  what  has  God  giver 
Hs  in  return  ?  Twenty-six  thousand  five  hundred  souls  brought 
to  the  acceptance  and  confession  of  Christ ;  eighty-one  organized 
congregations,  thirteen  of  which  are  wholly  self-sustaining ;  two 
hundred  and  ninety-five  schools  established,  with  a  theological 
seminary  in  each  field ;  eight  hundred  trained  native  workers ;  four 
hospitals,  well  equipped ;  fifty  years  of  experience  and  increased 
missionary  efiiciency ;  a  work  thoroughly  organized  in  its  different 
bran(^ies\  evangelistic,  educational,  medical ;  two  great  missions, 
that  are  themselves  beginning  to  send  out  foreign  missionaries. 
These  are  some  of  the  returns  that  God  has  given  us  from  our 
invested  capital. 

And  now  we  are  gathered  in  this  great  convention  to  celcl)rate 
our  golden  anniversary.  Such  a  celebration  is  justified,  not  bv  the 
fact  that  our  work  is  fifty  years  old,  but  by  the  fact  that  these  fifty 
years  have  been  years  of  blessed  privilege  in  service  and  of  splen- 
did results.  The  purpose  of  our  gathering  is  threefold.  1^'irst,  and 
chiefly,  it  is  for  thanksgiving.  "Xot  untr)  us.  oh  Lord,  not  unto 
us,  but  unto  Thy  name  be  the  glory."  There  will  be  no  session  of 
this  convention  in  which  we  will  not  utter  abundantly  the  memory 
of  God's  great  goodness  and  sing  of  his  righteousness.  We  will 
speak  of  the  glory  of  His  Kingdom  and  talk  of  His  power.  We 
will  show  to  the  sons  of  men  His  mighty  acts  and  the  glorious 
majesty  of  His  Kingdom. 

The  second  purpose  of  our  celebration  is  to  acquaint  the  Cburch 
more  perfectly  with  our  inspiring  record.  How  often  it  has  been 
said :     "Oh,  if  the  Church  did  but  knew  what  God  hath  wrougfht 


46  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILI'E    CONVENTION. 

in  our  forcit;-!!  fields,  would  she  not  take  a  greater  interest  in  the 
work  than  she  <loes  at  present?"  We  propose  now  that  she  shall 
know.  It  will  he  oin-  aim  to  send  out,  through  you  who  are  here, 
into  everv  svnod  and  presh\tery  and  eongregation  and  society  of 
the  Church,  the  story  of  these  fifty  years  of  hlessing  and  triumph. 
The  third  and  final  pun)ose  of  this  celehration  is  to  inspire  our 
hearts  and  the  heart  of  the  church  with  fresh  enthusiasm  and  with 
greater  courage  in  this  department  of  (jur  work.  Such  an  inspn-a- 
tion,  my  hrethren,  we  greatly  need.  for.  while  hy  the  grace  of  God 
we  have  accomplished  much,  it  is  but  little  in  comparison  with 
what  we  must  still  undertake.  Lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the 
fields!  Sixteen  thousand  now  professing  Christ.  Sixteen  million 
still  unreached!  \'ery  marvelously  has  Clod  given  these  multi- 
tudes to  the  care  of  our  Church,  and  can  any  one  doubt  that  He 
intends  us  to  give  them,  as  soon  as  we  possibly  can,  the  light  of 
the  ( ;osi)el  ?  It  is  sometimes  said  that  we  as  a  church  have  about 
reached  the  limit  of  our  resources  in  doing  foreign  mission  work. 
This  (le])ends  altogether  on  how  we  regard  the  work.  When  the 
Civil  War  was  threatening  there  were  many  in  the  North  who 
wanted  to  avert  it  at  any  cost.  They  said:  "We  have  neither  the 
men  nor  the  money  to  carry  a  war  to  a  successful  issue."  When 
A])raham  Lincoln  called  for  75,000  men  there  were  those  who 
believed  that  this  was  as  large  an  army  as  he  could  muster.  But 
presently  the  war  came.  The  North  awoke  to  the  fact  that  she 
liad  serious  business  on  hand.  Then  she  suddenly  found  that  she 
had  resources  that  had  never  been  dreamed  of.  Call  after  call  was 
is.sued  for  troops  and  promptly  responded  to.  Thousands  flocked 
to  the  front  and  ofifered  their  services,  so  that  before  the  war 
closed  2.556.000  men  had  been  enlisted  in  the  defense  of  our 
cotmtry. 

.\ow.  whether  as  a  church  we  have  or  have  not  the  resources  to 
fully  occui)y  our  foreign  fields  depends  wholl\-  on  the  view  we  take 
of  the  seriousness  of  this  work.  If  we  regard  it  as  of  as  much 
importance  to  give  the  (iosi)el  of  Christ  to  sixteen  million  inrish- 
ing  heathen  as  to  maintain  the  honor  and  unity  of  our  countr\ ,  we 
will  find  that  there  is  no  lack  of  resources,  either  of  men  or  money. 
What  we  need  is  a  deeper  ai)preciation  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
task  that  <  iod  has  given  us  to  accomplish,  and  of  the  responsibility 
which  this  ta.sk  impo.ses.  May  it  be  that  the  whole  Church  shall 
have  such  an  appreciation  as  the  result  of  this  convention.  May  it 
be  that,  expecting  greater  things  of  God,  we  may  go  forward  to 
undertake  greater  things  in  His  name,  and  long  before  the  ne.xt 


A    COXVKXTION    PORIvWORD. 


47 


fifty  years  are  eiuled  may  Ei;-y])t  and  India  and  tlic  Sudan  and  all 
other  mission  lands  be  given  wholly  to  Christ.  May  the  heathen 
be  given  to  Tiim  for  His  inheritance  and  the  uttermost  i)arts  of  the 
earth  for  His  possession. 


THE  PLACE  ( )!•  MISSK  )XS  IX  THE  THOUGHT  OF  GOD. 

MK.    KOlUikT    K.    Sl'EER. 

In  thinking  and  planning-  about  missions  and  especially  on  the 
threshold  of  a  great  Convention  like  this,  it  is  a  wise  thing  for  us  to 
try  to  go  down  as  deep  as  we  can  and  to  lay  this  missionary  enter- 
prise on  its  very  bottommost  foundation.  That  foundation  is  not 
found  in  th.c  consideration  of  the  results  and  triumphs  of  the 
missionary  work,  great  and  beneficent  and  of  divine  character  as 
Ave  believe  these  to  be.  A  powerful  argument  imdoubtedly  can 
be  made  on  behalf  of  the  missionary  enterprise  and  the  obligation 
of  the  Christian  Church  to  carry  it  forw'ard  on  the  basis  of  the 
greatness  and  beneficence  of  its  results.  I  believe  it  can  be 
proved  that  there  is  no  power  in  the  world  comparable  with  the 
power  of  Christian  Missions  to  transform  the  lives  of  men  and  in- 
troduce better  conditions  of  life.  In  his  great  book  on  Christian 
Missions  and  Social  Progress,  Dr.  Dennis  has  made  out  his  case 
unanswerably.  I  believe  it  can  be  proved  that  there  is  no  force 
in  tile  world  comparable  with  the  force  of  Christian  Missions 
U])on  the  politics  of  nations,  to  bring  about  better  government  in 
tlie  world.  .\nd  we  all  believe  that  there  is  no  force  like  the  force 
of  missions  coni])arable  in  i)ower  to  accomplish  the  spiritual  trans- 
formation of  character  and  to  awaken  in  the  dead  smds  of  men 
the  very  life  of  God. 

And  there  are  circumstances,  doubtless,  when  the  argument  on 
behalf  of  missions,  grounded  on  considerations  like  these,  is  the 
most  powerful  argument  that  can  be  urged.  It  is  wrong  for  us 
not  to  think  of  considerations  like  these.  If  our  movement  can- 
n(tt  be  judged  by  its  fruits  it  can  make  no  appeal  whatever  to 
reasonable  and  tln-ugluful  men.  And  nothing  could  l)e  more 
natural  than  that  now  and  tlun  we  should  pause  to  look  back  over 
what  we  have  tried  to  do.  and  ask  ourselves,  as  we  have  ln-en  ask- 
ing ourselves,  this  evening,  whether  we  have  been  doing  wisely 
and  whether  what  we  have  succeeded  in  doing  has  justified  all 
its  enormous  cost  of  money  and  life.  .And  it  is  to  ])e  hojied  that 
in  the  days  of  thi.-.  Convention  we  shall  see  even  more  clearlv  the 

48 


.    PLACi;  OF    MISSIONS    IN   THE   THOUGHT    Ol'   GOD.  49 

•g-ood  Hand  of  our  Clod  in  the  great  achievemenis  of  these  fifty 
years  that  have  gone,  and  shall  be  called  by  the  very  magnificence 
of  these  achievements  to  believe  that  in  the  days  to  come  we  shall 
accomplish  greater  things  still. 

And  yet  there  is  a  deeper  ground  than  this  on  which  to  rest  the 
missionary  enterprise.  The  consideration  of  its  trium])hs  is  not 
a3ways  applicable.  If  in  the  early  days  of  your  missionary  enter- 
prise men  shoidd  have  challenged  your  right  to  proceed  with  this 
enterprise,  on  the  ground  that  the  results  were  inadequate,  you 
would  have  had  no  reply.  I  read  only  a  few  days  ago  a  letter  from 
one  of  our  secretaries  who  has  just  gone  out  to  visit  cur  missions 
in  western  Africa,  and  he  spoke  of  having  met,  on  the  steamship  on 
which  he  was  going,  two  missionaries  of  the  English  church  who 
had  wrought  for  seven  years  with  only  two  converts,  and  one  of 
those  a  little  lad  of  twelve,  in  Hausaland.  For  eleven  years  the 
-missionaries  wrought  in  Foo  Chow  with  only  two  converts,  and 
after  the  first  twenty-three  years  of  our  mission  work  in  South 
China,  we  numbered  only  thirty  converts.  And  if  we  are  to 
jiLStify  our  missionary  enterprise  in  the  Mohammedan  world  on 
the  ground  of  the  visible  results  and  have  no  other  evidence  in  its 
support,  I  suspect  we  would  be  able  ill  to  command  the  support 
and  sympathy  of  a  great  body  of  Christian  men. 

A^id  not  only  is  this  argument  not  always  a])]:>licablc,  liut  there 
is  no  such  Ijinding  obligation  in  it  as  is  to  be  found  in  the  great 
foundation  of  missionary  enterprise.  I  may  persuade  a  man  that 
the  missionary  enterprise  can  accomplish  great  results,  that  it 
ameliorates  the  conditions  "of  human  life,  that  it  purifies  the  insti- 
tutions under  which  men  live,  but  I  cannot  convince  him  by 
arguments  like  these  that  he  is  bound  by  obligations  that  he  can- 
not escape,  to  participate  in  this  great  enterprise.  What  we 
should  want  to  do  at  the  beginning  of  this  Convention,  it  seems  to 
me,  is  to  discover  to  ourselves  again  those  unassailable  foundations 
on  which  this  enterprise  rests,  and  on  which  rests  the  obligation 
from  which  the  Christian  Church  cannot  release  itself.  What  I 
should  like  to  speak  about  fc;r  a  little  while  this  evening,  accord- 
ingly, is  the  place  of  missions  in  the  thought  of  God,  and  the  obli- 
gation to  carry  forward  the  missionary  enterprise  that  rests  on  all 
Christians,  because  the  missionary  enterprise  is  thus  grounded 
supremely  in  the  thought  of  God  himself. 

Let  us  think  at  the  outset  for  just  a  moment  of  the  place  of  mis- 
sions in  the  thought  of  God  as  revealed  to  us  by  what  we  know 
about  His  character.    We  believe  in  Him  as  the  solitarv  God,  the 


50  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE;    CONVENTION. 

OIK'  ( iod,  the  one  true  ( iml.  I  f  men  do  not  own  1 1  iin  for  their  God,- 
they  are  C.odlcss  men.  Tly  just  as  much  as  we  behcve  that  our 
Cod  is  the  one  God.  must  we  l)eHeve  that  He  is  the  God  of  every 
man.  the  whole  world  around.  As  we  believe  in  His  Omnipotence 
and  1  lis  solitariness  we  believe  also  in  His  love,  and  know  that  no 
man  anvwhere  in  the  world  can  slip  out  of  the  affection  of  the 
Father,  that  it  is  not  His  Will  that  any  man  should  perish,  but 
that  all  the  world  should  come  to  repentance  and  to  life  :  and  that 
His  great  father  heart  is  beating-  in  patient  and  eager  love  for 
every  human  soul.  \\'e  see  these  great  affections  of  God  going 
out  toward  men  in  the  history  of  His  revelation  of  His  life  in  the 
world.  W?  realize  that  He  had  to  begin  with  some  single  nxe. 
and  it  is  not  strange  that  that  race  came  to  think  that  it  was  not 
the  channel  alone,  but  the  end  of  the  love  and  grace  of  God.  I'ut 
as  we  look  back  over  the  years  we  realize  that  He  began  with  that 
one  race,  not  that  He  might  end  with  it,  but  because  He  must  be- 
gin somewhere  in  the  world  of  men,  intending  never  to  end  imtil 
He  had  gathered  in  the  whole  world  and  every  tongue  should  con- 
fess Him  as  its  blather  and  its  God.  We  cannot  think  of  God  with- 
out thinking  of  llim — \  say  it  reverently — as  a  missionary  God.  If 
lie  were  anything  else  than  that,  we  could  not  think  of  Him  as 
being  (iod  at  all.  <  )ur  very  conception  of  Him,  of  His  attributes, 
of  His  qualities.  comjH'ls  us  to  think  of  Him  as  the  God  of  the 
whole  world,  and  of  the  whole  world  as  His. 

Think  in  the  second  place  of  the  revelation  we  have  c^f  the  place 
of  missions  in  llis  thought  as  revealed  in  His  Son.  Whatever 
limitation  there  may  be  to  the  law  of  heredity  anywhere  in  life, 
there  is  no  limitation  to  that  law  in  God.  W'hatever  we  sec  in 
God's  ."^on  we  may  be  sure  we  shall  tind  in  God.  \\'c  think  over  the 
life  of  our  Lord  jesns  I'hrist,  and  llis  coming  here  was  a  mission- 
ary act.  a  mission,  so  to  s])eak.  1  fe  was  alwaws  referring  to  it  so. 
"I  canu'  not  to  .lo  My  own  Will,  but  the  Will  of  Him  That  sent 
me.""  "Me  that  sent  .Me  is  with  Me.'"  ■"The  l'"ather  hath  sent  the 
Son  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world."'  His  conception  of  1  lis  com- 
ing into  this  world  of  ours  was  a  i)urel\-  missionarv  conception. and 
those  who  associated  with  Mini,  from  old  .Simeon,  as  he  took  the 
little  child  in  his  arms  in  i  lis  infancy,  down  to  the  very  last  day, 
realized  that  Mis  presence  here  was  a  great  revelation  of  the  luis- 
sionary  affections  of  God.  The  message  that  He  spoke  here  in 
the  world  was  a  missionary  message,  a  message  to  all  men,  few 
and  Gentile,  rich  and  poor,  Pharisee  and  Publicjin.  The  message 
that  He  spoke  was  a  message  to  all  men,  an  ade((uate  suj^plv  for 


viii 

It  and 

hac 

I  need 

ic 

world 

>\vn  race 

liar 

rower 

I'LACI-;   Ol'    MISSIONS    IX    'nilv    TIIOUC.IIT    ()!•    Co]).  ,51 

every  man's  need,  rich  man,  poor  man,  Jew  and  ( ientile, 
sinner,  to  every  man  He  came,  realizing-  that  everv  man 
of  Ilim. 

Tlie  spirit  that  He  manifested  while  He  walked  in  t 
was  a  missionary  spirit.  Born  in  the  limitations  of  His 
and  time,  the  noble  thing  about  Him  was  that  He  saw  no 
horizon  than  the  uttermost  souls  of  men,  that  He  went  through 
the  world  free  from  all  petty  racial  jealousies  and  ill  feelings  and" 
divisions,  loving  the  whole  world  with  an  equal  heart.  "I  am  the 
light  of  the  world,"  was  His  \A'or(l.  "The  bread  which  I  will  give 
is  My  tiesli  which  I  will  give  for  the  life  of  die  world."  "And  I, 
if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  Me."  "Other  sheep  I 
have,  not  of  this  Jewish  fold,  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall 
hear  My  voice  and  there  shall  be  one  flock,  and  one  Shepherd." 
The  s])irit  that  guided  Him  from  the  beginning  until  at  the  last 
He  died  a  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  was  the 
missionary  spirit.  His  prayers  were  missionary  prayers.  We 
have  only  a  few  of  those  prayers  preserved  to  us,  some  of  them 
very  fragmentary,  but  in  the  two  prayers  that  seem  in  some  ade- 
quate measure  to  reveal  to  us  His  inner  life  of  prayer,  we  get 
visions  of  what  the  missionary  spirit  must  have  been  in  His  prayer 
life.  When  giving  to  His  disciples  what  w^e  call  the  "Lord's 
Prayer,"  He  embodied  in  it  at  the  beginning  that  great  petition 
"Thy  Kingdom  Come,"  and  I  have  often  wondered  over  the  mean- 
ing of  that  little  phrase  in  His  last  high-priestly  prayer  as  He 
walked  out  to  His  betrayal,  where  in  His  petition  on  behalf  of  His 
disciples.  He  remarks,  "I  .pray  not  for  the  world,  but  for  these 
whom  Thou  hast  given  Me  out  of  the  wx:)rld."  Why  does  He  say 
"not  for  the  world"  unless  He  meant  to  imply  that  that  was  what 
He  was  wont  to  do.  It  might  be  supposed  that  that  would  l)e  what 
He  would  do  now.  The  disciples  could  have  gathered  no  other  in- 
terpretation from  His  life  than  that  which  they  did  gather,  that 
God  was  in  Him  reconciling  the  world  to  Himself.  A  great 
(jerman  ethnologist  has  pointed  out  that  after  all  one  of  the  most 
commanding  sayings  of  St.  Paul  is  the  expression  where  he  des- 
cribes the  vast  missionary  influence  of  Christ,  when  he  utters  his 
opinion  that  in  Christ  the  three  great  divisions  that  had  divided  the 
ancient  world  had  all  been  obliterated,  the  line  of  distinction  be- 
tween male  and  female,  between  bond  and  freeman,  between  the 
privileged  Jew  and  the  outer  and  unprivileged  world. 

Those  who  touch  Christ  and  feel  His  influence  behold  in  Him 
the  revelation  of  the  great  missionary  heart  of  God,  and  not  alone 


52  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

in  the  character  of  God,  and  in  that  character  as  revealed  in  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord  have  we  some  clear  conception  of  the  place  this 
missionary  enterprise  holds  in  God's  thought ;  we  have  it  also  here 
in  what  we  firmly  believe  to  be  the  A\'ord  of  God.  It  is  this  Rook 
that  tells  us  that  to  which  I  have  just  been  giving  expression  re- 
garding the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  book  itself  is  the  record 
of  the  great  missionary  enterprise  begun  in  the  heart  of  God  and 
carried  on  down  until  this  day,  and  never  to  end  until  the  King- 
doms .of  this  wcrld  have  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and 
of  His  Christ.  It  is  a  missionary  book  not  alone  here  and  there, 
not  in  the  force  of  some  occasional  missionary  saying  or  in  some 
clear  word  of  missionary  prophecy,  but  the  missionary  spirit  is  of 
the  very  essence  of  the  Bible  So  that  you  cannot  take  the  mis- 
sionary element  out  of  the  Bible  and  lia\'e  any  Bible  left  at  all.  It 
.  is  grounded  in  every  text  of  the  Word  of  God  as  it  is  grounded  in 
the  very  character  of  God  himself,  ^"ou  cannot  read  this  revela- 
tion without  feeling  your  heart  drawn  out  to  the  whole  world  as 
His  heart  was  drawn  out  for  it,  and  no  man  out  in  the  darkened 
world  can  read  it  without  feeling  that  the  God  of  that  book  is  his 
God  because  He  is  the  God  of  all  mankind. 

In  the  fourth  place  we  look  out  over  history,  and  history  reveals 
to  us  the  place  of  missions  in  the  thought  of  God.  Xo  man  can 
understand  human  history  who  does  not  read  it  in  the  light  of  the 
place  that  the  missionary  enterprise  fills  in  (lod's  thought.  We 
cannot  understand  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  save  on 
this  basis.  The  history  of  that  old  Jewish  church  becomes  just  a 
torso,  a  fragment,  a  contradiction  of  the  God  who  is  su])erinten(l- 
ing  it,  unless  we  read  it  all  in  its  missionary  implication,  and  as 
just  a  preparation  for  a  great  and  universal  expression  of  the  love 
•of  ( lod  to  all  mankind.  A  Christian  Church  is  founded  on  no 
other  ])rinciple  than  this,  the  simjile  i)rinciple  that  it  is  l)y  outgo 
that  we  live  and  that  we  have  in  order  that  we  may  share.  I  be- 
heve  myself  that  the  Christian  Church  rests  on  the  very  same 
principle  on  which  the  individual  Christian  life  rests  and  that  the 
man  who  seeks  to  save  his  life  shall  lose  it,  and  by  the  same  law 
the  Christian  Church  that  seeks  to  save  her  life  shall  lose  it.  That 
tlu'  Christian  Church  is  no  more  established  for  her  own  si)iritual 
growth  and  self-culti\ation  than  that  individual  Christians  are 
calii'd  for  the  ruiti\'ation  of  their  own  characters  as  the  supreme 
aim  of  tlieir  calling.  We  are  called  to  serve  our  own  generation 
and  the  character  that  we  gi't  is  simj)!)  a  by-product  of  our  service, 
and  by   just  the  same  law   1   belie\e  that  the  Christian  t"luu-ch  is 


•    PIvACE;   of    missions    in   TIIU   THOUGHT    OF    GOD.  5?: 

called  to  serve  the  world,  and  her  spiritual  growth  comes  to  her  as 
she  goes  out  in  the  furtherance  of  her  great  missionary  unselfish- 
ness like  the  mission  of  unselfishness  that  led  her  Lord  to  come  not 
to  be  ministered  unto  but  to  minister  and  to  fulfill  His  life  in  lay- 
ing it  down  as  a  ransom  for  many.  And  the  very  laws  of  God 
that  have  controlled  the  Christian  Church  in  her  history  reveal  to 
us  the  Will  of  God,  that  life  should  never  be  severed  from  the  ex- 
perience of  missionary  impulse.  If  at  any  time  in  her  history  the 
Christian  Church  had  forgotten  her  duty  to  the  world ;  if  at  any 
time  the  flames  of  missionary  devotion  had  Imrned  low  upon  her 
altars,  she  has  paid  for  it  invariably  1)\'  alienation  from  Christ 
her  Lord  and  by  the  dying  down  of  the  tides  of  His  life  through 
her  veins.  And  if  at  any  time  in  her  history  she  has  drawn  close 
to  Him  once  more,  if  the  flames  of  her  love  to  Christ  have  blazed 
up  again  on  the  altar,  invariably  that  nearness  to  Him  has  ex- 
pressed itself  in  a  fresh  outgo  of  love  for  the  whole  world,  in  a 
fresh  devotion  to  the  great  purposes  of  Christ,  to  bring  in  those 
other  sheep  not  of  that  Jewish  fold,  that  there  might  be  one  flock 
and  one  shepherd. 

In  a  little  book  on  "Asia  and  Europe,"  one  of  the  most  sugges- 
tive and  one  of  the  most  misleading  books  of  our  day,  Mr.  Mere- 
dith Townsend,  the  successor  of  Mr.  llutton,  the  editor  of  the 
London  ''Spectator,"  has  said,  that  while  he  believes  the  mission- 
ary duty  is  a  great  duty,  yet  it  is  a  perfectly  futile  dutw  that  we 
would  never  succeed  in  converting  any  large  number  of  tliese 
masses,  that  the  great  nmltitudes  of  them  will  stop  when  they 
die,  and  there  will  be  nothing  more  of  them  in  this  world  or  the 
world  to  come.  But  futile  and  vain  as  he  believes  the  duty  tj  be, 
it  is  duty,  and  the  Christian  Church  should  go  out  in  obedience  to 
the  missionary  impulse,  and  no  Christian  Church  unless  it  is  a 
mockery  of  a  Christian  Church  can  fall  away  from  this  purpose. 
We  cannot  understand  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  as  we 
look  back  over  the  nineteen  centuries  through  which  it  has  come 
save  as  we  see  in  that  history  a  clear  revelation  of  the  purpose  of  it 
to  bless  the  Church  that  falls  in  line  with  a  missionary  purpose  and 
to  curse  the  Church  that  denies  Him  by  denying  His  character  of 
love  for  all  mankind. 

And  it  is  not  alone  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church  that  is 
unintelligible  to  us  save  as  we  perceive  the  place  which  this  mis- 
sionary enterprise  fills  in  the  thought  of  God.  I  do  not  believe 
that  we  can  understand  what  we  speak  of  as  secular  history — - 
which,  of  course,  in  our  eves  has  no  existence  at  all — I  don't  be- 


54  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

lii'vc  tliat  we  can  undorstaiul  what  we  speak  of  as  secular  history 
except  in  the  Hght  of  this  great  conception  of  the  place  of  missions 
in  the  thought  of  God.  Take  such  a  great  movement  of  the  last 
century,  to  serve  as  a  concrete  illustration  of  what  I  mean,  as  the 
Taiping  rehellion.  That  was  the  greatest  thing  that  happened 
in  the  19th  century  so  far  as  illustrating  the  upheaval  of  great 
institutions  is  concerned.  The  eyes  of  the  world  were  fixed  oh 
other  things,  on  the  wretched  Crimean  war,  on  our  Civil  strife, 
on  the  changes  in  the  development  of  Africa,  on  the  throes  out  of 
w-hich  South  American  republics  were  growing.  Men  had  little 
thought  of  what  was  going  on  among  the  four  hundred  millions 
of  people  in  China,  but  there  was  a  great  upheaval  that  resulted 
in  the  death  of  thirty  million  of  our  fellow  human  creatures,  in 
the  destruction  perhaps  of  billions  of  dollars  of  wealth,  and  in  the 
annihilation  of  organized  government  in  large  parts  of  half 
of  the  provinces  of  the  Chinese  empire,  and  in  the  practical  obli- 
teration of  India  wherever  its  influence  had  extended.  But  no 
man  will  ever  understand  it  who  does  not  understand  it  in  the  h'ght 
■of  what  God  is  doing  in  the  world  to  get  His  great  missionary 
thought  realized.  That  great  upheaval,  the  greatest  upheaval  in 
human  history  I  suppose,  all  sprang  out  of  a  bundle  of  simple 
'Christian  tracts  dropped  in  the  responsive  mind  of  a  Chinese  who 
came  down  to  take  his  competitive  examinations  in  the  last  cen- 
tury in  Canton.  He  was  met  by  an  old  gray  haired  disciple  of 
Robert  Morrison,  who  carried  in  his  hands  some  little  tracts.  The 
Toung  man  took  them  to  his  home  in  his  country,  and  some  years 
after  he  read  them  and  found  confirmation  of  some  great  visions 
that  had  come  to  him,  and  he  started  out  with  the  imagination  that 
the  Christian  God  had  commissioned  him  in  become  Em])eror  of 
China,  and  to  destrox  idolatry  and  the  o])i,um  traffic  in  the  whole 
of  the  Chinese  Emi)ire,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  interference 
■of  "Chinese  Gordon"  the  Taiping  rebellion  might  have  prevailed. 
I'.ut  no  man  will  ever  understand  that  great  movement  who  does 
not  understand  it  in  its  relationship  to  that  steady  aclixity  of  the 
.Spirit  of  ( lod  in  the  wnrld  trying  to  get  liis  missionary  ])urpose 
nalized  and    fulfilled. 

And  in  tlie  great  occurrences  of  our  own  time,  what  is  the  mean- 
ing of  tluse  upheavals  that  have  come  upon  us  in  the  far  East?  Do 
they  have  significance  merely  in  Russian  political  history?  Are 
they  of  interest  to  the  world  only  as  they  bear  on  Japanese  politi- 
cal institutions?'  T\\v  strife  in  the  East  is  of  no  larger  signific- 
.ance  in  human  bistnry  save  as  it  l)ears  on  great  spiritual  ends,  as 


•place;  of  missions  in  the;  thought  of  god.  55 

it  is  in  some  real  way  an  unfolding  of  God's  great  purpose,  and 
another  step  toward  the  establishment  here  on  earth  of  His  king- 
dom that  shall  embrace  all  mankind.  We  look  out  in  the  world 
in  which  we  live  and  back  on  the  world  in  which  our  fathers  lived, 
and  it  all  speaks  to  us  with  just  a  clear  and  unmistakable  voice 
of  God's  interest  in  all  humanity  and  God's  tireless  insistence  that 
all  His  children  throughout  the  whole  world  should  be  brougiit 
home  again  at  last  and  sheltered  in  His  love  and  the  security  of 
His  kingdom. 

And  now.  al  hist,  we  can  come  back  on  a  basis  like  this  to  think 
of  the  blessing  whicli  God  lias  ])oure(l  out  on  the  missionary  enter- 
prise, realizing  that  our  enterprise  is  grounded  not  on  its  failures 
or  on  its  successes,  that  it  rests  on  the  great  character  of  God  and 
the  manifestations  of  that  character  in  Mis  revelation  of  it  in  hu- 
man history. 

Think  for  a  moment  oi  tlie  way  in  which  he  has  gone  be\'ond 
all  that  v.e  have  done,  acting  Himself  far  beyond  the  limits  of  our 
utmost  activities,  touching  human  hearts  tliat  we  have  sca'-cely 
touched  save  as  we  have  just  dropped  a  seed  there  in  the  ground 
to  be  cared  for  and  nourished  and  brought  to  its  fruition  by  Him. 

I  cannot  think  of  any  more  vivid  illustration  of  what  1  have 
in  mind  than  the  story  Lord  Radstock  gave  in  the  London  Times 
this  ^ast  summer  with  reference  to  the  triumphant  success  of 
Christian  missions  in  India.  He  was  speaking  of  the  great 
transformation  in  India  since  he  himself  had  gone  thL-rr  iliirtv 
years  before.  And  he  cited  one  instance  of  the  wav  in  whjch 
far  beyond  the  knowledge  of  any  man,  ( iod  was  working  to 
secure  the  conversion  of  Swami  Abhedananda.  Seven  years  ago 
he  was  in  Delhi  and  heard  an  iMiglishman  speaking  and  he  just 
caught  the  words,  "1  am  the  true  \'ine."  That  awakened  in 
the  breast  of  that  Hindoo  devotee  an  idea  of  the  ]:»ossibilities  of 
the  comnnmicated  life.  He  carried  around  on  his  body  a  little 
annilet  filled  with  the  dust  from  the  three  hundred  sacred 
Hindoo  places.  No  missionary  talked  with  him,  nobody  knew 
what  was  going  on  in  that  Hindoo  devotee's  heart,  but  that  single 
sentence  began  to  work  the  story  of  the  divine  life  in  that  man's 
soul.  He  visited  the  Armenians  and  he  went  to  Rome  that  he 
might  study  Mohammedanism  and  Christianity,  he  went  to 
China  and  Japan  to  study  Confucianism  and  Buddism,  and  after 
seventeen  years  of  wandering  he  came  back  to  Bengal  to  profess 
his  belief  in  the  Bible  as  the  word  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ  the 
.  Son  of  God  as  the  onlv  Saviour  of  mankind.  He  has  not  connected 


5G  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

himself  with  any  Christian  Church.  You  and  I  would  find  very 
much  unsatisfactory  in  his  Christian  opinions,  but  the  love  of  God 
had  struck  into  that  Mindoo  soul  beyond  any  power  of  ours.  The 
life  of  God  has  worked  in  that  single  life  as  it  is  working  in  many 
little  children  and  men  and  women  in  Asia.  No  missionary  has 
visited  them,  but  the  love  of  God  that  is  in  the  world  has  struck 
its  roots  deep  in  these  countries,  and  beyond  any  touch  of  our  in- 
fluence is  doing  the  great  work  of  transforming  the  kingdoms. 

Mr.  Cleland  was  referring  to  the  grand  momentum  of  the  mis- 
sionary activities  of  the  early  Church.  We  are  just  beginning  to 
feel  now  at  the  dawn  of  this  new  century  the  great  heave  and 
surge  of  the  missionary  activities  of  the  past.  The  last  census  of 
India  shows  a  p(ii)ulati()n  tliat  in  the  decade  ending  1901  has  in- 
creased three  per  cent,  over  the  whole  of  India,  but  the  Hindoo 
population  had  decreased  about  one-third  of  one  per  cent.,  the 
Mohammedan  population  had  increased  nine  per  cent.,  and  the- 
Christian  population  increased  twenty-seven  per  cent.,  and  tlie 
I'rotestant  Christian  population  has  increased  thirty  per  cent. 
I  remember  hearing  Bishop  Moule  of  Hang  Chow  of  the  Church 
of  England  saying  that  when  he  first  came  to  China  fift}-  years 
ago  there  were  only  fifty  Protestant  Christians  in  the  whole 
of  the  Chinese  empire,  not  a  single  Protestant  Christian  in  Japan, 
in  Korea,  in  the  Laos  states  or  in  Siam,  and  in  his  lifetime  he 
had  seen  the  Christian  Church  in  Japan  grow  from  nothing  toe 
more  than  forty  thousand ;  in  Korea  from  nothing  to  more  than 
ten  thousand;  and  the  I'rotestant  population  of  China  grew  from 
that  little  handful  of  fifty  when  he  went  there  to  more  than  a 
hundn'd  and  twenty  thousand  when  the  devastation  of  the  Boxer 
uprising  swept  across  the  empire.  1'here  are  many  here  this  even- 
ing who  will  live  to  see  the  ])eoi)le  of  Asia  coming  every  year  by 
the  hundred  thousand  into  the  Christian  t  lunch. 

h'ar  beyond  any  power  w'e  have  put  forth,  the  loving  power  of 
(iod  has  wrought  through  these  small  companies  of  ours,  these 
five  loaves  and  a  few  small  fishes  that  we  have  brought  for  His 

USI-. 

We  look  out  over  tlu'  world  where  all  we  see  in  i(  of  the 
activities  and  lilessing  of  (iod  eominces  us  that  the  first  thing  in 
the  thought  of  (Iod  is  the  end  that  br  bad  in  view  when  "\ir  .so 
loved  the  world  that  lie  ga\i'  Ills  only  begotten  son  that  whoso- 
ever l)i'lievetb  011  i  lim  might  not  pi'rish  but  have  e\iiiasting  life." 
when  Me  sent  forth  His  .^on.  "not  to  condenni,  but  to  save  the 
whoU-  world."' 


■PLACH    OI<    MISSIONS    IN    Tlll^,    THOUGHT    Ol-    Col).  57 

So  friends,  if  the  missionary  enterprise  has  this  place  in  the 
thonght  of  God,  will  we  not  ask  ourselves  whether  it  holds  any 
corresponding  place  in  our  lives?  Shall  that  be  second  with  us 
which  was  first  with  God?  Shall  that  for  which  God  gave  up  His 
Son  make  no  appeal  to  us  that  we  should  give  up  our  sons,  and 
that  for  which  Jesus  Christ  gave  up  His  life  strike  no  such  chord 
in  our  hearts  as  shall  call  upon  us  to  give  up  our  lives  for  Hira? 
What  ought  the  individual  life  to  think  of  that  of  which  God 
thought  so  much?  If  the  missionary  enterprise  is  first  in  the 
thought  of  God,  ought  it  not  to  be  the  first  in  our  own  thoughts 
and  lives?  Is  it  the  first  in  our  lives?  I  speak  to  you  men  here 
this  evening,  is  the  missionary  enterprise  the  first  business  in 
your  life?  Does  it  have  a  place  above  your  own  business  by 
which  you  earn  your  living?  Does  it  have  a  place  in  your  affec- 
tions beyond  any  of  your  personal  cares  or  concerns?  If  this 
thing  is  first  with  God,  and  we  believe  in  God,  must  this  thmg 
not  be  first  with  us,  God's  sons  ? 

There  is  a  passage  in  Blaikie's  personal  life  of  Livingstone  in 
which  he  has  pictured  that  last  night  before  he  went  out  from  his 
Scotch  home  to  his  great  work  in  Africa.  He  says  all  that  last 
night  Livingstone  and  his  father  sat  up  talking.  Midnight  came 
and  still  the  old  man  and  his  son  sat  side  by  side  and  the  hours 
ran  on  until  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  David  Livingstone 
was  to  sail  from  his  home  to  Africa.  And  the  one  subject  of  their 
conversation  that  night  as  they  sat  there  in  that  humble  Scotch 
home  was  the  prospect  of  the  coining  of  the  day  when  man  would 
look  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  and  they  agreed  that 
the  day  would  come  when  men  would  live  to  make  money  for  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  when  there  would  be  Christian  men  who  would 
support  missionaries  and  even  entire  mission  stations.  Has  that 
day  come  in  the  lives  of  the  men  of  this  church  ?  If  we  believe  in 
God,  and  the  men  of  this  church  do  believe  in  God,  ought  not  the 
missionary  enterprise  to  have  practically  in  our  lives  the  i)lace  that 
it  has  in  the  thought  of  God?  And  if  it  has  that  place  in  His 
thoughts  and  in  His  care,  and  in  His  family  Wic.  then  ouglu  it 
not  to  have  that  place  in  our  family  lives? 

Think  of  what  the  missionary  enterprise  called  forth  from  the 
family  life  of  God,  how  the  dearest  sacrifice  this  world  ever  saw 
was  made  in  the  bosom  of  God  in  behalf  of  the  evangelization  of 
the  world.  If  God  gave  up  His  only  Son  that  1  fe  might  go  out  as  a 
missionary  to  the  unevangelized,  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Cnnl  to 
the  children  of  God,  should  you  and  I  be  reluctant  to  yie]<l  up  the 


58  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    jl'Blti:r:    CONVKNTION. 

clearest  that  wc  possess  ?  Should  not  the  missionary  enterprise  be 
the  first  thing  in  our  home  ?  Is  it,  my  friends  ?  Do  we  talk  abcut 
it  around  our  firesides  ?  Do  we  make  it  the  subject  of  conversation 
witJi  our  cliildren  ?  Do  our  Httle  children  instinctively  pray  for 
the  whole  world  and  the  little  children  on  the  other  side  of  the 
world?  ISelieve  me,  if  we  believed  in  God  as  we  say  we  believe 
in  i  lim,  and  realized  thai  the  chief  concern  of  God  is  that  His 
world  might  be  brought  back  again  to  I  lim,  we  should  feel  as 
eager  to  achieve  it  as  He  felt  eager  to  achieve  it  when  he  yielded 
up  His  Son. 

1  know  what  men  say  w  hen  the  missionary  ol)ligation  is  pressed 
home  on  them  in  this  broad  way.  They  say  if  you  speak  of  mis- 
sions in  that  way  you  are  simply  using  "missions"  as  though  the 
word  were  synonymous  with  Christian  activity,  ^'ou  have  no  right 
to  focus  on  the  evangelization  of  the  heathen  world  the  entire 
missionary  love  of  (iod.  Rut  what  a  simple  device  it  is  on  our 
])art  for  holding  to  the  theory  of  a  God  of  all  mankind  while  we 
pull  Hiiu  down  to  be  a  little  racial  God,  which  is  all  He  is  to  most 
of  us,  an  Anglo-Saxon  (iod,  an  American  God,  a  European  God, 
}X0  God  of  all  mankind.  If  we  believed  in  Him  as  the  God  of  all 
mankind  we  should  be  driven  by  that  very  conception  of  him  to  go 
with  oiu"  ( iospcl  to  all  mankind  and  to  deem  no  single  human  soul 
dearer  to  J  [im  than  any  other  human  soul,  and  every  human  soul 
entitled  to  the  Gospel  on  the  same  groimds  which  entitle  tis  to  it, 
and  needing  the  (iOSpcl  on  the  same  terms  as  we  need  the  Gospel. 
No  consideration  gives  men  the  Gospel  or  makes  the  Gospel  of 
any  worth  to  men  that  does  not  lay  man  imder  the  obligation  to 
give  that  Gos])el  to  all  mankind.  We  have  it  on  terms  that  make 
it  the  ]iroperty  of  every  human  soul.  \\'e  have  it  because  it  is 
\hv  <  iospel  of  a  God  who  loved  the  whole  world  and  whose  child 
"every  child  of  man  is.  And  I  am  no  true  child  of  llis  nor  any 
'true  menil)er  of  tlie  Ghurcb  that  ])ears  the  name  of  llis  Son  if  I  do 
liot  live  in  oliedience  to  the  same  great  passion  that  swaxed  him  in 
•desiring  to  see  the  ideals  of  liis  heart,  realizeil  in  the  coming  of 
liis  kingdom  throughout  the  wlioU-  world.  There  never  yet  has 
T)ecn  any  l)ranch  of  the  Christian  Church  that  rose  to  the  level  of 
this  gri-at  conception. 

(  )h.  my  frii'uds,  what  a  ])rivilege  is  yours  to  make  your  Church 
lhis  Church,  ^'ours  is  a  Cluu"ch  that  has  never  wavered  in  the 
purity  of  its  testimon\-.  A  ( "luu-ch  whose  candle  casts  no  wavering 
•and  imcertain  light,  ^■ours  is  a  Chm-cb  that  holds  fast  bv  the 
;great  <  iod  of  rdl  mankind.  ;ind   b-sus  Christ  1  lis  .Sou.  all  mankind's 


place;  of  missions  in  the  thought  of  god.  59 

Saviour.  Why  will  you  not  lift  the  level  of  your  activities  to  the 
high  grade  of  your  Christian  faith?  Why  will  you  not  go  out 
into  the  world  to  do  among  these  sixteen  million  of  people  laid  on 
your  shoulders  as  your  distinct  and  specific  charge,  the  work  to 
which  }nu  are  called  by  these  convictions  which  you  hold,  and 
which  summon  you  to  make  the  evangelization  of  these  sixteen 
millions  of  people  your  prayer  by  night  and  your  activity  by  day? 
Once  a  Christian  Church  arose  resolved  to  achieve  this  thing, 
there  is  no  power  on  earth  that  could  stay  it.  With  God  acting 
with  it,  fulfilling  the  specific  mission  God  set  for  it,  there  is  no 
power  on  earth  that  would  stay  it  in  its  course.  If  you  will,  you 
can  give  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  those  sixteen  millions  of  people 
before  we  younger  men  and  women  here  tonight  have  passed 
away.  If  the  Christian  Church  throughout  the  whole  world  only 
would  live  by  the  faith  that  she  professes  to  Relieve  we  could  make 
this  whole  world  God's  in  fact  as  it  is  God's  in  truth,  before  the 
generation  to  which  we  belong  had  passed  away  to  render  its 
account  to  Him.  (  )h  my  friends,  what  unbelief,  what  coldness  of 
heart,  what  attachment  to  evil,  keeps  us  back  from  our  glorious 
duty  and  our  splendid  privilege.  You  remember  the  word  of 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  He  did  not  see  very  clearly  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ  on  which  we  have  looked.  He  had  touched  only  the 
distant  border  of  his  garment,  and  you  recall  the  words  he  spoke 
in  the  last  of  all  those  strange  addresses  of  his  before  the  collapse 
that  came  at  the  end.  "None  but  Jesus,  none  but  Jesus,  none  but 
Jesus  is  worthy  to  wear  the  diadem  of  India,  and  He  shall  have  it." 
And  if  none  but  Jesus  is  worthy  to  wear  the  diadem  of  India  who 
but  Jesus  is  worthy  to  wear  the  diadem  of  Egypt  or  of  South 
America,  or  of  China,  or  of  the  islands  of  the  sea  ?  Shall  He  have 
it,  shall  He  have  it?  My  friends,  let  us  do  our  best  to  get  it  for 
Him,  and  when  we  have  got  it  let  us  lay  it  down  upon  His  brow, 
the  brow  of  the  Saviour  of  all  mankind,  and  cover  with  its  glory 
forever  the  scars  of  that  crown  of  thorns  which  He  won  in  seek- 
dno-  to  save  the  whole  round  world. 


WEDNESDAY  MORNING. 
The  True  Spirit  of  Missions:     Rev.  Joseph  Kyle,  D.D. 

Fifty   Years  of   Foreign   Missions  in   Egypt:     Rev.  Charles   R. 
Watson. 


THE  TRUE  SPIRIT   OF   MISSIONS. 

lllE    REV.    J()Si-:i'lI     K\1J-:,    1).    1). 

///  John,  7-tV;  "Because  that  for  Flis  name's  sake  tliey  went 
forth,  fakin;:;  nothin:^  of  the  Gentiles.  Jl'e  therefore  on^hf  to  re- 
ceire  sneh,  that  zee  might  be  felloiehe'pers  to  the  truth." 

The  success  of  missions  in  apostolic  times  has  been  matter  of 
wonder  to  all  succeeding  generations.  It  has  been  the  joy  of  the- 
church  to  recall  these  "years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High," 
to  her  deliverance  from  doubt  and  fear,  and  to  her  establishment 
in  that  most  holy  faith  which  sings : 

"The  Lord  of  us  hath  mindful  liccn 
And  He  will  l.less  us  still." 

Vet.  nothwithstanding  her  repeated  recollection  cf  the  itnparal- 
leled  triumphs  of  Christianity  over  pagan  systeius  of  the  "Greeks" 
and  of  the  "Barbarians."  of  the  "wise"  and  the  "foolish"  through- 
out the  vast  empire  of  Rome,  it  is  manifest  that  the  church  has 
failed  ''in  soiue  measure  to  learn  the  lessons  God  would  teach  her 
by  them.  The  joy  of  past  victory  has  been  great,  and  rightly  so, 
but  not  so  great,  her  sense  of  present  duty.  She  has  been  stand- 
ing on  tiptoe  shouting,  "What  hath  God  wrought!"  And  this  is 
well.  But  with  a  resolute,  resourceful  enemy  still  keeping  the  field, 
with  doors  of  opportunity  opening  on  every  side  into  which  she 
has  not  yet  entered,  she  should  have  been  found  more  frequently 
upon  her  knees  asking,  "What  wilt  Thou  have  me  to  do?" 
Touching  the  glorious  record  of  Paul,  Apollos,  and  Cephas,  which 
is  a  part  of  her  present  heritage,  it  may  well  be  questioned 
whether  her  active  imitation  has  ever  measured  up  to  her  avowed 
admiration. 

What  is  the  secret  of  the  marvelous  success  of  the  church  of  the 
first  centuries  in  evangelizing  the  heathen?  It  is  not  to  be  attri- 
buted to  any  peculiar  endowment  of  power  or  furnishing  for 
service  that  is  not  now  attainable.  The  same  Holy  Spirit  in  whom 
are  all  gifts  and  graces  abides  in  the  church  and  shall  be  with  her 
even  unto  the  end  in  all  the  fullness  of  His  power.  The  same 
gospel,  which  was  then  and  ever  shall  be  the  "power  of  God  unto 

63 


64  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth"  remains  with  her ;  and  tlie 
will  of  (lod  (»ur  Saviour  now  as  then  is  to  "have  all  men  to  be 
saved  and  come  unto  the  knowledge  of  the  truth."  There  were 
giants  in  those  days  it  is  true,  but  they  were  men  of  like  passions 
with  ourselves.  There  will  be  giants  in  our  day  also  where  men 
shall  be  mightily  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit  and  constrained  by  the 
lovj  of  Christ. 

There  is  no  hidden,  mysterious  '"secret  of  success"  to  be  learned 
by  a  study  of  the  young  church's  experience.  But  here  in  a 
brief  letter,  one  of  the  last  written  by  the  last  of  the  apostles,  a 
chief  reason  of  her  power  is  made  manifest  in  the  mission  motive 
that  controlled  both  the  heralds  of  the  gospel  and  those  who  seiat 
them  forth. 

"liecause  that  for  llis  name's  sake  they  went  forth ^"^  We 
therefore  ought  to  receive  such." 

It  .'^eems  to  me  that  this  scripture  may  very  profitably  be  made 
the  subject  of  our  meditation  during  this  devotional  hour,  since 
it  is  the  I  lol\  Spirit's  own  representation  of  that  which  is  worth- 
iest of  (iiu-  stu(l\  and  imitation  touching 

Tin;  .Si'iRiT  oi-    MissioN.s  and   iiii-:  Siim-oki'  of   Mis.sions. 

I'oiir  words  serve  to  declare  the  divine  ideal  of  the  motive 
principle  that  should  i)romi)t  to  witnessing  for  Jesus  Christ, 
whether  in  the  centers  of  Christian  influence  or  at  the  utmost 
hoimds  of  earth,  "•'"or  his  name's  sake." 

The  apostles  and  their  fellow-missionaries  rightly  understood 
their  call  to  hear  witness  to  Jesus  Christ  the  I'erson:  "Ye  shall 
be  witn<.s>es  unto  Me,"  "1  le  is  a  chosen  \essel  mito  Me  to  bear  My 
name,""  "Lo.  I  am  with  \oii  alwaw"'  So  did  their  Lord  repre- 
.sent  tiie  character  and  the  object  of  their  mission  and  assure  them 
of  llis  personal  presence  as  they  should  give  lestimt)ny  to  the 
trutli  as  It  is  in  Mini.  Therefore  C"hrist  was  all  in  all  to  them, 
for  luarl  and  si  ul  and  mind  and  strt'ngth.  lo  them  to  live  was 
(^■|ni>>t.  riuir  duls  was  doiu-  "as  unto  the  Lord  and  not  unto 
men."'  The\-  deterniint'd  not  to  know  anything  "save  Jesus 
<'hrist  and  I  lim  crucilieil.'"  and  so  to  set  llim  before  the  very  eyes 
of  those  to  whom  they  preached  llis  gospel.  The  motive  that 
constrained  them  was  not  simply  loyalty  to  a  principle — it  was 
that,  but  inori'.  it  was  devotion  to  a  l\-rson  ;  not  merely  zeal  for  the 
truth— il  was  that  to  tlu-  consuming  degree — but  more,  it  was 
love  to  llim  Who  is  the  'I'ruth.  It  is  this  spirit  alone  that  can  fit 
line  to  \)v  either  a  inail\  r  oi'  a  fellow   lu-lper  to  tlu-  truth. 


TRUE  SPIRIT  OP  MISSIONS.  65 

"For  His  name's  sake"  they  went  forth,  those  consecrated  mis- 
aionaries  of  the  early  church,  following  their  Lord's  example 
whose  meat  it  was  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Him  and  leaving 
us  an  example  that  we  should  follow  in  their  steps.  Witness  Peter 
and  John  coming  from  the  presence  of  the  Sanhedrin,  bruised 
and  bleeding,  but  "rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to 
suffer  shame  for  the  name."  Witness  Paul,  travel-stained  and 
weary  with  long  journeys  into  the  "regions  beyond,"  the  "marks 
of  the  Lord  Jesus"  on  every  member  of  his  body,  when  danger 
threatened  in  the  home  land^  where  he  should  have  found  a  royal 
welcome,  standing  forth  to  say  to  his  weeping  brethren,  "I  am 
ready  not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem  for  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Witness  the  martyrs  and  confessors 
of  succeeding  generations,  carrying  the  gospel  of  grace  into  the 
very  centers  of  Satanic  influence  and  power;  so  ill-furnished  for 
service  as  the  church  would  now  regard  them,  clad  in  sheep-skins 
and  goat- skins,  sheltered  in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth,  wander- 
ing in  deserts  and  mountains,  being  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented, 
matched  with  wild  beasts  in  the  arena  or  bound  to  the  stake  and  so 
sent  home  to  God  in  chariots  of  flame ;  witnessing,  toiling,  daring, 
•enduring,  suffering,  dying  "For  His  name's  sake." 

It  was  this  mightiest  of  constraining  influences,  love  to  Christ, 
that  the  love  of  Christ  constrains,  which  sent  David  Brainerd  into 
the  American  wilderness  to  endure  hardness,  cold,  hunger,  dis- 
ease, and  to  dare  death  at  the  hands  of  savages.  Hear  that  young 
martyr-missionary,  whose  words  were  so  potent  to  bring  convic- 
tion to  the  souls  of  red  men,  who  being  dead,  yet  speaks  with 
manifold,  greater  power  than  in  life,  in  every  mission  field  of  the 
world  by  the  tongues  of  earnest  witnesses  whose  souls  have  been 
set  on  fire  by  the  flames  of  his  zeal — hear  him,  while  yet  a  student 
in  preparation  for  his  work,  "Here  am  I,  Lord,  send  me ;  send  me 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  send  me  to  the  rough,  the  savage  pagans 
of  the  wilderness,  send  me  from  all  that  is  called  comfort  here, 
send  me  to  death  itself  if  it  be  but  in  Thy  service  and  to  promote 
Thy  Kingdom." 

It  was  this  same  spirit  of  devotion  that  drew  Christian  Schwartz 
and  William  Carey  to  India,  Robert  Morrison  to  China,  Adoniram 
Judson  to  Burmah,  John  Williams  to  the  South-Sea  Islands,  their 
souls  following  hard  after  Jesus  Christ  and  caring  not  whither 
He  might  lead  them,  if  only  they  might  see  His  face  and  rejoice  in 
His  love. 

Henry  Martyr  heard  the  voice  of  his  beloved  calling  in  far-off 


66  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILKK    COXVIiXTlON. 

Persia,  and  with  soul  rapture  like  Isaiah's  and  devotion  single  as- 
tiiat  of  the  spouse,  he  flung  earthly  ease  and  honor  to  the  winds, 
"For  His  name's  sake"  entering  into  that  moral  Sahara,  that  deso- 
late "death's  valley."  as  eagerly,  as  joyously  as  if  it  had  been  a 
Paradise, and  there  burning  out  for  God.  David  Livingstone  would 
never  have  hidden  himself  in  the  wilds  of  Africa,  but  that  in  every 
sense  his  life  was  "hid  with  Christ  in  God."  He  refused  the  favor 
that  the  church  and  the  world  also  would  have  showered  upon 
him,  separated  himself  from  the  companionship  of  friends,  the 
sweet  sympathies  of  wife  and  children,  "for  His  name's  sake." 

This  is  the  mother-motive  as  it  is  the  master-motive  of  all  earn- 
est and  successful  Christian  effort,  the  all-comprehending  spirit. 
as  it  is  the  all-constraining  spirit  of  missions  in  the  home  land,  or 
in  the  foreign  field.  No  other  can  claim  its  place,  no  other  can 
endure  apart  from  it,  "for  PTis  name's  sake.'" 

We  have  heard  much  of  the  church's  duty  to  the  unsaved,  of  the 
necessity  that  is  laid  upon  her  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor  lost 
world,  but  not  too  much ;  this  obligation  cannot  be  too  strongly 
emphasized.  Startling  arrays  of  facts  and  figures  have  been  pre- 
sented again  and  again  setting  forth  the  darkness  and  wretched- 
ness of  heathendom.  Let  the  truth  and  the  whole  truth  touching 
our  shameful  neglect  of  duty  and  the  hopelessness  of  the  heathen 
world  be  told  over  and  over  until  it  shall  burn  itself  into  our  hearts 
and  consciences.  But,  friends,  if  the  church  is  to  be  quickened  to 
a  holy  enthusiasm  for  missions,  if  the  zeal  that  consumes  is  to  be 
kindled  on  her  heart's  altar,  then  nuist  she  look  not  less  on  the 
hopeless  cradles  and  hopeless  homes  and  hopeless  graves  of  India 
and  China  and  Africa,  but  more  on  the  manger  of  Bethlehem, 
the  carpenter's  lodge  at  Nazareth  and  the  borrowed  tomb  in  the 
garden,  where  the  Son  of  the  Highest,  "overfall  God  blessed  for- 
evermore,"  humbled  ITimself  to  live  and  to  die  for  men  for  His 
great  love  wherewith  He  loved  them.  "Ye  know  the  grace  of  our 
l."r<l  jesus  Christ,  that  though  He  w^is  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes 
Me  became  poor,  that  ye  through  His  poverty  might  be  rich." 
'J'herefore  "for  His  name's  sake"  spend  and  be  spent  that  He 
may  "see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  be  .satisfied."  When  at 
thought  of  the  stable  that  marks  the  beginning  of  that  life  of  sacri- 
fice and  the  cross  that  marks  its  end,  one  learns  to  say  with  fohn, 
and  to  nuan  it  as  John  meant  it.  "Herein  is  Love:"  or,  with  Paul, 
He  "  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me,"  then  will  he  be  glad  to 
.say  also  "What  shall  I  do.  Lord?"  i-Lvery  prayer  he  offers  to  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest  to  "send  forth  laborers  into  the  harvest"  will 


TKUl':  Sl'lKlT  oi'   -MISSIONS.  67' 

be  an  otfer  of  himself  to  his  Lord's  service,  to  serve  where  He  will 
and  as  He  will  'for  His  name's  sake." 
-Note  next  the  teaching  of  the  inspired  apostle  as  to 

The  Sufport  of  jMissioxs. 

We  have  both  example  and  precept  here.  "Taking  nothing 
of  the  Gentiles,"  that  is  the  example;  "We  aught  to  receive  such," 
that  is  the  precept. 

"Nothing  of  the  Gentiles."  It  was  reckoned  a  fundamental 
principle  of  missions  by  the  early  Christian  Church  that  the  church 
should  sustain  her  own  work  and  not  compromise  herself  by  seek- 
ing the  assistance  of  the  world,  from  which  by  her  Lord's  com- 
mandment and  her  o\vn  confession  she  was  separate.  She  had  a 
two-fold  purpose  in  maintaining  such  a  principle.  She  would  not 
be  misunderstood  by  the  world,  or  subject  herself  to  the  suspicion 
that  she  was  mercenary  in  spirit  and  motive.  Paul  worked  with 
his  own  hands  to  support  himself  in  proof  of  the  genuineness  of 
his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  in  demonstration  of  the 
truth  of  his  claim,  "I  seek  not  yours,  but  you."  But  above 
arid  beyond  this,  the  young  church  in  the  purity  of  her  zeal 
and  the  thoroughness  of  her  separation  would  alsogiX^e  emphasis 
to  the  principle  that  is  as  old  as  the  church  herself,  that  it  does 
make  d*[fiference  whence  come  the  means  that  are  to  be  devoted  to 
the  support  of  the  gospel.  Therefore  her  missionaries  went  forth 
"taking  nothing  of  the  Gentiles."  This  practice  is  not  so  widely 
prevalent  as  it  was  when  John  wrote  this  epistle.  There  are 
churches  that  will  gladly  take  anything  and  everything  that  the 
"Gentile"  will  give,  and  even  cringe  like  beggars  before  wealthy 
men  of  the  world  to  secure  their  help  in  the  prosecution  of  their 
Master's  work. 

God,  as  He  can  make  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him,  can  also 
make  the  wealth  of  the  world  to  serve  Him.  The  gold  and  the 
silver  are  His,  w^hosoever  may  hold  them  and  howsoever  they  may 
have  been  obtained.  He  may  take  them  from  their  unworthy 
claimants  and  place  them  in  the  keeping  of  His  stewards.  But 
the  church  may  not  consent  to  receive  the  world's  proffered  sup." 
port,  nor  resort  to  worldly  measures  to  fill  her  treasuries.  She  is 
not  of  the  world  as  her  King  and  Lord  is  not.  The  world  and  its 
prince  have  nothing  in  Him,  and  they  may  have  neither  part  nor 
lot  in  her.  Every  revival  period  in  her  history  has  served  to  mag- 
nify this  principle,  which  is  as  clearly  taught  in  the  gospel  as  in  the 
law,  that  God's  Israel  may  not  accept  wealth  that  is  marked  by 


68  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

Gentile  uncleanliness,  whatever  may  be  the  rank  and  standing  of 
the  offerer.  The  King  of  Sodom  may  not,  can  not,  make  Abraham 
rich.  David  must  not,  David  will  not  make  the  Lord  of 
Israel  pensioner  to  the  Jebusite.  The  burden  of  supporting,  nay, 
rather  the  privilege  of  sustaining  all  the  missions  of  the  church 
belongs,  as  did  the  bearing  of  the  hallowed  symbols  of  God's  wor- 
ship in  the  olden  time,  to  those  whom  the  blood  of  sprinkling  has 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  the  Lord. 

Because  of  their  Christ-like  devotion  to  the  world  and  their 
Christ-like  separation  from  the  world,  John  says  these  missionar- 
ies of  the  cross  ought  to  be  sustained  by  the  church  whose  mes- 
sengers they  are.  There  are  two  emphatic  words  in  the  apostle's 
representation  of  the  church's  duty.  "We  ought  to  receive." 
"We  ought." — "for  His  name's  sake"  they  go,  the  love  of  Christ 
constrains  them  else  they  ought  not  to  go.  Necessity  is  laid  upon 
them,  yea  woe  is  to  them  if  they  go  not.  This  is  the  "ought"  that 
sends  them  forth.  "For  His  name's  sake"  must  we  also  who  re- 
main do  our  part.  The  love  of  Christ  must  likewise  constrain  us. 
We  must  acknowledge  the  necessity  that  is  laid  on  us.  Yea,  woe 
is  to  us  if  we  do  not  meet  our  duty  to  these  heralds  of  the  gospel. 
This  is  the  "ought"  that  rests  on  us. 

"We  ought  to  receive  such,"  "to  welcome"  such  the  Revision 
has  it.  There  is  another  reading  of  the  Greek  text  which  employs 
another  form  of  the  verb,  or  rather  the  same  verb  with  a  different 
prepositional  prefix,  the  meaning  of  which  is  "to  take  up  by  plac- 
ing oneself  under  the  object  to  be  borne."  This  will  allow  the 
rendering,  "We  aught  to  sustain  such."  This  is  the  significance 
of  John's  statement  of  the  church's  duty  whichever  reading  may 
be  adopted,  for  surely  a  missionary  might  well  reckon  that,  a  sorry 
sort  of  "welcome,"  a  cold  "reception,"  which  did  not  include  the 
tender  of  needed  sympathy  and  help. 

We  ought  to  sustain  such,  devoting  our  strength  and  means 
to  their  supi)ort,  stretching  out  to  them  the  hands  of  Christian 
sympathy  and  bearing  them  u])  in  the  hands  of  prayer, 
presenting  our  bodies  to  them  and  .so  presenting  them  to  the  Lord 
a  "living  sacrifice,"  and  if  need  be,  as  the  same  apostle  elsewhere 
urges,  "laying  down  our  lives  for    the  brethren." 

A  well-known  incident  in  the  life  of  the  best  known  missionary 
of  modern  times  serves  to  illustrate  the  apostle's  meaning  here. 
Shortly  after  the  organization  of  that  famous  missionary  society 
at  Kettering,  one  hundred  and  twelve  years  ago,  correspondence 
was  opened  with  one  John  Thomas,  a  Christian  surgeon   in  the 


trub:  spirit  of  missions.  %P 

service  of  the  East  India  Company,  whose  spirit  had  been  stirred 
within  him,  as  was  Paul's  at  Athens,  where  he  saw  the  milHons 
of  that  great  province  wholly  given  to  idolatry.  The  narrative  of 
his  evangelistic  efforts  in  that  dark  land  produced  a  profound  im- 
pression upon  the  members  of  the  society  and  moved  Andrew 
Fuller  to  say,"Brethren  there  is  a  gold-mine  in  India,  but  it  seems 
almost  as  deep  as  the  center  of  the  earth.  Who  will  venture  to  ex- 
plore it?"  "I  will  venture  to  go  down,""  was  the  swift  response  of 
William  Carey,  "but  you  my  brethren  must  hold  the  ropes."  This 
they  solemnly  engaged  to  do,  pledging  their  hearty  support  so  long 
as  they  should  live.  Unquestionably  it  was  the  promise  of  his 
Lord  and  Master,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  the  days,"  that  first  of  all 
and  last  of  all  and  all  in  all  was  the  rock  of  Carey"s  heart  and  the 
basis  of  his  confidence ;  but  who  will  say  that  his  brethren's  pledge 
of  sympathy  and  help  had  naught  to  do  in  strengthening  that  zeal- 
ous missionary's  faith  and  encouraging  him  to  hope  even  to  the 
end.  A  like  sacred  obligation  rests  on  the  churches  and  mission- 
ary societies  of  our  day,  and  we  who  must  acknowledge  the  right- 
eousness of  the  bond  are  verily  guilty  of  the  breach  of  one  of  the 
holiest  of  brotherly  covenants  if  we  fail  to  "hold  the  ropes"'  and  to 
be  "fellow-helpers  to  the  truth." 

But  supporters  must  themselves  be  supported.  If  a  church 
would  sustain  her  messengers  as  she  ought,  then  must  she  have 
a  real,  a  vital,  a  conscious  hold  on  Christ.  "Teneo  et  Teneor" 
is  a  favorite  motto  with  many  as  the  expression  of  their  faith 
and  trust.  Is  it  not  better  to  write  the  words  in  the  reverse 
order  and  as  to  say,  "I  am  held  and  I  hold?"  Specially  as  we 
think  of  the  faith  that  is  exercised  on  behalf  of  others  is  this  the 
better  representation.  A  faith  that  takes  hold  on  the  "strong 
Son  of  God,"  because  it  feels  itself  in  the  grasp  of  His  omnipo- 
tence,— a  faith  that  thus  takes  hold  on  God  for  others  and  then 
takes  hold  on  others  for  God.  You  have  seen  a  chain  of  separate 
links  held  together  by  the  mysterious  influence  of  magnetism. 
The  length  of  the  chain  was  proportionate  to  the  strength  of  the 
current  that  fixed  the  first  link  to  the  magnet.  The  measure  of  a 
church's  ability  to  be  of  real  service  in  sustaining  missions  is  the 
strength  of  her  grasp  on  Christ,  of  her  life  in  Him  and  her  love  to 
Him. 

Dr.  Duff  once  said,  "If  there  were  more  abiding  in  Christ  there 
would  be  less  abiding  in  England."  True  enough,  but  all  cannot 
go  from  England.  Nevertheless  the  words  of  the  grand  old  mis- 
sionary of  the  cross  enfold  a  principle  that  finely  applies  even  to 


70  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEIE;    CONVKNTION. 

those  who  must  needs  remain  at  home.  For  sure  it  is  that  if  we 
were  Hving  nearer  to  Christ  we  would  hve  nearer  to  our  brethren 
who  have  gone  forth  "for  His  name's  sake."  If  we  were  Hving 
more  unto  Him,  who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us,  we  would 
live  more  unto  all  that  are  His.  So  also  would  it  come  to  pass 
that  our  love  to  Christ  would  find  expression  not  only  in  sympathy 
with  those  who  minister  in  His  name,  but  also  in  compassion  for 
the  poor  lost  souls  to  whom  they  minister.  And  we  would  read 
•out  of  John's  \vords  that  which  the  Spirit  of  Christ  has  written  into 
them,  "we  ought  to  pity  such  that,  we  may  be  fellow-helpers  to  the 
trulli."  For  let  it  be  noted  that  a  mission-sustaining  church  must 
have  a  heart  conviction  of  her  obligation  to  those  who  are  lost  and 
perishing  in  sin. 

I  once  watched  a  company  of  miners  working  for  the  rescue  of 
two  of  their  companions  who  had  been  caught  in  a  tunnel  by  a 
mass  of  sand  and  earth  that  had  fallen.  One  of  the  unfortunates 
was  the  brother  of  one  of  the  rescuing  party.  There  was  no  lack 
of  interest  on  the  part  of  any  who  worked  so  hopelessly,  but  the 
brother's  interest  was  all  absorbing.  Flis  shovel  was  wielded  as 
with  the  strength  of  three  men.  It  was  a  brother  whom  he  hoped 
to  save.  A  brother  in  the  horrible  pit !  It  was  this  that  brought 
Jesus  Christ  to  earth,  to  the  manger  and  to  the  cross.  A  brother 
for  whom  Christ  died  standing  on  the  very  brink  of  Flell !  It  is 
this  that  has  quickened  the  steps  of  every  missionary  of  the  cross 
that  ever  went  forth  into  the  dark  places  of  the  earth.  A  brother 
lost  and  I  must  find  him  or  send  some  one  to  do  the  service.  My 
brother's  keeper?  Yes.  There  are  no  Cains  in  mission  fields  or 
in  missionary  churches.  "I  am  debtor  both  to  Greeks  and  to 
Jiarbarians."  So  did  Paul  acknowledge  his  obligation  to  those 
who  had  not  heard  the  gospel.  If  with 'such  recognition  of  our 
relationship  to  all  whom  we  may  serve,  we  had  also  a  worthy  con- 
ception of  the  deptlis  of  woe  to  which  a  people  without  the  gospel 
must  descend.  I  think  tlie  sense  of  obligation  would  lie  more 
heavily  and  mure  tenderly  upon  our  hearts.  John  Howard 
traveled  throughout  Europe  visiting  the  jails  of  the  chief  cities, 
undismayed  l)y  the  foulness  and  loathesomeness  that  met  him 
vver\  where  and  the  disease  and  death  that  lurked  in  those  chamb- 
ers of  horrors  that  passed  for  prisons  in  Europe  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago.  He  took  passage  in  a  plague  infected  vessel  that 
at  the  end  of  the  voyage  he  might  be  subjected  to  the  extremely 
rigorous  but  wholly  inefficient  quarantine  measures  then  in  vogue. 
His  purpose  was  that  he  might  see  and  know  and  feel  the  miscrv 


TRur;  sriRTT  of  missioxs.  71 

lie  sought  to  relieve.  In  human  sphere  and  measure  his  Hfe  was 
devoted  to  the  imitation  of  Him  who  "redeemed  us  from  the  curse 
of  the  law^  being-  made  a  curse  for  us."  Could  we,  brethren,  in 
the  spirit  of  John  Howard,  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  retaining 
all  the  finer,  the  heavenly  sensibilities  with  which  grace  has  en- 
■dowed  and  ennobled  our  nature — could  we  not  only  witness  with 
our  eyes  but  even  enter  into  the  actual  experience  of  the  poverty 
-and  suffering  and  heart-wretchedness  to  which  heathenism  has 
doomed  so  many  millions  of  our  race,  and  apprehended  the  all-but- 
infinite  distance  between  Christian  civilization  and  pagan  barbar- 
ism, I  think  there  w^ould  be  small  need  for  appeals  for  sympathy 
■and  help  such  as  now  come  to  us  from  the  dark  places  of  the 
world,  and  too  often  fall  upon  deaf  ears  and  indifferent  hearts. 
Our  Lord  has  not  exacted  such  a  sacrifice  of  us,  but  He  asked  us 
to  recognize  the  obligation  that  attaches  to  every  gift  of  grace, 
freely  to  give  to  others  as  we  ourselves  have  freely  received  of 
Him.  and  to  own  ourselves,  "for  His  name's  sake,"  as  debtors  to 
all  who  have  less  than  we  enjoy.  In  the  larger  law  of  the  gospel 
-it  is  declared  that  duty  to  God  and  duty  toman  are  exactly  paral- 
lel, that  indeed  they  are  as  one  line  coincident  throughout  the  en- 
tire length  the  latter  extends,  the  only  difference  being  that  the 
one  outreaches  the  other  and  gives  direction  to  it.  The  first  and 
great*  commandment  of  the  law  is,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy 
God,  with  all  thy  heart ;"  and  the  second  is  like  unto  it.  "Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thy  self." 

Place  side  by  side  with  the  two  great  commandments  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  two  great  acknowledgments  of  obligation,  which  make 
manifest  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  Paul.  Apparently  answering'  the 
charge  of  cold-hearted,  censorious  critics  in  Corinth,  that  he  had 
passed  the  bounds  of  prudence  and  propriety  in  speech  and  action 
in  his  zeal  for  the  gospel,  Paul  said,  "whether  we  be  beside  our- 
selves it  is  to  God,  or  whether  w^e  be  sober  it  is  for  your  cause." 
The  form  into  which  he  cast  this  statement  is  more  significant. 
There  seems  to  be  at  first  sight  a  rhetorical  defect  or  inaccuracy  in 
the  antithesis  or  parallelism  as  it  really  is.  Why  did  he  not  say, 
"\Miether  we  be  beside  ourselves  or  be  sober  it  is  to  God?"  He 
did  say  it  far  more  emphatically  than  if  he  had  so  expressed  his 
thought,  and  at  the  same  time  he  set  forth  this  great  principle 
•  which  grace  has  magnified,  that  the  cause  of  man  is  the  cause  of 
God  as  well.  Paul  found  his  rhetoric  in  the  gospel  of  the  cross, 
his  logic  in  the  life  of  Him  who  said  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done 
it  to  one  of  the  least  of  these  mv  brethren  ve  have  done  it  unto 


72  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBII^EE    CONVENTION. 

me."  Howsoever  his  zeal  might  find  expression,  whether  it  was. 
the  divine  or  the  human  phase  of  obUgation  that  Avas  first  in  his 
thought,  it  was  the  love  of  Christ  that  constrained  him,  and  his 
judgment  that  all  should  live  unto  Him  who  died  for  them  was. 
ever  quickening  into  action  in  his  own  unselfish  life  for  men. 

A  church  of  "fellow-helpers  to  the  truth"  must  be  in  the  noblest 
sense  "of  tlie  truth,"  and  "walk  in  the  truth,"  and  "abide  in  the 
truth."  The  truth  to  which  she  must  hold  is  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus.  For  length  and  breadth,  all  the  truth  that  lies  between  the 
vision  of  the  sinless  garden  and  the  apocalypse  of  the  Holy  City ; 
for  height  and  depth,  all  the  truth  that  lies  between  the  blessed 
announcement  of  a  Heaven  and  the  dread  revelation  of  a  Hell ;  for 
fullness,  all  the  truth  that  lies  between  the  all-sufficiency  of  Jesu* 
Christ  and  the  all-deficiency  of  men ;  for  center  and  circumference 
and  comprehension  Him  who  "was  and  is  and  is  to  come,"  "the 
way,  the  truth  and  the  life."  Only  such  a  faith,  such  a  theology, 
will  make  a  missionary  church. 

In  a  little  company  of  Christians  the  question  was  raised,  "How 
shall  we  reach  the  full-blooded  Indian  with  the  gospel?"  One  of 
them  answered  "I  will  tell  you.  Send  a  full-blooded  Christian  after 
him."  A  full-blooded  Christian  is  one  full  fed  on  the  Bread  of 
Life ;  who  believes  that  all  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God 
and  is  profitable  to  accomplish  the  purpose  it  is  appointed  to  serve. 
From  Christians  of  such  type  and  character  come  the  best  mission- 
aries and  the  best  supporters  of  missions  at  home  and  abroad.  A 
half  gospel,  a  mutilated  Bible,  is  a  failure  as  an  evangelizing  and 
enlarging  or  an  enthusing  agency.  The  Book  of  God  dissected 
and  inter])reted  according  to  the  canons  of  criticism  adopted  in 
certain  self-lauded  schools  of  our  own  and  other  lands  is  proselyt- 
ing rather  than  converting  in  its  power.  It  makes  its  perverts, 
followers  of  men  rather  than  disciples  of  Christ.  They  may  be- 
come, they  often  do  become  propagandists,  but  never  evangelists. 
Liberal  Christianity  will  never  disciple  the  nations.  Reference  has 
frequently  been  made  in  missionary  addresses  and  publications  to 
the  mission  of  one  whom  a  society  of  liberal  Christians  once  sent 
to  India  to  convert  the  natives  to  Unitarianism.  He  himself  soon 
became  a  member  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj,  an  association  of  eclec- 
tics in  religion,  professing  to  select  from  all  systems  the  best  that 
is  in  them  and  to  combine  these  chosen  principles  into  one  body 
of  truth,  so  the  resultant  conglomerate  resembling  in  constitution 
the  feet  and  tcx-s  of  the  great  image  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream 
and  dounu-d  to  a  like  destruction.     That  missionary's  experience 


TKL'I".  SIM  KIT  OF  MISSION'S.  iS 

goes  to  prove,  that  a  gospel, — if  it  be  allowable  to  employ  this 
divine  title  in  such  connection — a  gospel  that  does  not  magnify 
the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  quickly  vanquished  in  conflict  with 
paganism. 

Evidence  comes  readily  to  hand  to  show  also  that  liberalism  in' 
belief  is  by  no  means  one  and  the  same  with  liberality  in  gift  and- 
service  in  the  cause  of  missions.  One  does  not  like  to  make  com- 
parisons between  denominations  in  this  respect.  lUit  when  the 
comparisons  come  ready  made  by  those  who  are  the  sufferers  in 
the  case,  it  is  no  breach  of  Christian  courtesy  to  quote  them.  One 
such  was  furnished  a  few  years  ago  at  a  meeting  of  Boston  L'nit- 
arians,  on  which  occasion  Rev.  Edward  Everett  Hale  is  reported 
to  have  said,  that,  in  a  given  length  of  time,  the  fifteen  congre- 
gational churches  of  Worchester,  Mass.,  gave  more  money  to* 
missions  than  did  all  the  Unitarian  societies  of  the  I'nited  States, 
then  some  four  hundred  and  fifty  in  number.  That  is  a  most  sig- 
nificant contrast,  and  the  reason  of  the  difference  is  not  far  to- 
seek. 

Dr.  Duff,  in  his  famous  missionary  sermon  a  half  centurv  ago,- 
taking  as  his  text  the  first  and  second  verses  of  the  sixty-seventh 
Psalm,  and  making  "Missions  the  Chief  End  of  the  Church"  his 
theme,  rang  the  changes  on  the  principle  that  the  church  that  is 
not  evangelistic  will  soon  cease  to  be  evangelical.  That  was  the 
truth  for  the  times,  but  that  which  at  least  as  much  as  any  other 
is  the  "present  truth"  is  this,  that  the  church  that  ceases  to  be 
evangelical  will  soon  cease  to  be  evangelistic.  We  need  men  and 
women  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  (ihost.  full-blooded  Chris- 
tians at  home  to  sustain  missions  as  well  as  full-blooded  Christians- 
in  the  field  to  prosecute  missions. 

A  mission-sustaining  Church  must  also  have  a  firm  persuasion 
of  the  efficiency  of  the  truth  of  God  and  the  sufficiency  of  the  ( lod 
of  truth  to  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations.  "My  word  shall  not 
return  unto  Me  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish  that  which  1  please 
and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it."  Relying  nj^on 
such  assurances  as  this,  David,  filled  with  the  S])irit.  summons  all 
the  lands  to  praise,  to  serve  the  Lord  with  gladness  and  to  conic 
into  His  presence  with  singing. '  From  the  towers  of  his  palacr  he 
might  almost  have  looked  to  the  boundaries  of  the  territ(irv  that 
then  owned  the  sway  of  the  King  of  Kings,  nevertlu  less  he  sent  out 
the  call  to  every  nation  and  people  and  tongue.  'l"o  what  sul)liinitv 
of  faith  does  the  "sweet  Psalmist"  rise  in  that  one  hundred  and 
seventeenth  Psalm,  anticipating  the  glorious  day   when  hi<  owit 


74  FOREIGN    MISSIOXAUY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

•■Hallelujah  Chorus"  shall  circle  the  world  with  praise  to  the 
Recleemer-Kin,2:.  In  like  triumphant  faith,  Paul  preached  Christ 
crucified.  To  the  Jew  such  a  gospel  was  a  stumbling  block  and  to 
the  Greek  it  was  foolishness,  nevertheless  Paul  dared  to  assert  that 
(iod  had  highly  exalted  this  crucified  Christ  and  "given  Him  a 
uanie  which  is  above  name,  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
should  bow  of  things  in  heaven  and  things  in  earth  and  things  un- 
der the  earth ;  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  O,  for  the  faith 
of  David  and  of  Paul, which  cou^.d  thus  reach  out  over  millenniums 
of  time  and  uncounted  leagues  of  land  and  sea,  then  shadowed 
with  the  blackness  of  darkness,  and  claim  all  the  world  for  Christ. 
■"We  see  not  yet  all  things  put  under  Him."  The  evidence  is 
painfully  clear  and  overwhelmingly  abundant  that  establishes 
this  statement.  The  outward  prospect  of  sight,  while  it  furnishes 
nmch  reason  for  joy.,  also  presents  vastly  more  that  makes  the 
heart  sore  and  sad.  "We  sec  not  yet."  Put  the  forward  prospect 
of  hope  and  the  upward  prospect  of  faith  warrant  the  confidence, 
that,  although  the  dominion  of  King  Jesus  is  not  yet  acknowl- 
-cdged  by  the  world,  His  final  and  complete  triumph  is  as  sure  as 
the  i^romise  and  the  oath  of  God.  We  may  sometimes  grow 
heart-sick  and  soul-wearied  notwithstanding  the  many  exceeding 
great  and  ]-)recious  promises,  but  "fie  shall  not  fail  nor  be  dis- 
couraged till  He  have  set  judgment  in  the  earth,  and  the  isles 
shall   wait  for  His  law." 

There  is  a  scene  ])ictured  in  the  gospel  story  which  is  an  un- 
failing source  of  hope  to  witnesses  for  the  truth  whether  in  the 
bome-land  or  in  the  Foreign  field,  assuring  them  as  it  does  of  their 
Pord's  ])resent  interest  in  the  struggle  between  light  and  darkness, 
truth  and  error,  and  of  the  speedy  triumph  tliat  shall  l)e  in  1  lis  own 
time.  The  twelve  disciples  are  in  a  little  fisher-l)oat  in  the  midst 
of  Galilee,  hopcles.sly  struggling  against  the  j)ower  of  the  sea.  It 
is  a  time  of  night  and  storm.  Away  on  a  mountain  on  the  shore 
their  Lord  is  praying.  I'.ut  they  are  not  forgotten,  n.or  can  cloud 
•and  darkness  hide  them  from  His  sight.  "He  saw  them  toiling 
in  rowing:"  and  "making  the  cause  of  tlu-ir  (lisma\-  the  means  of 
His  a])])roacIi,"  walking  on  the  waves  that  threatened  to  engulf 
them,  He  came  to  their  deliverance,  bringing  calm  to  the  tossing 
•.sea  and  ])eace  to  their  troubled  hearts.  ■'It  is  1,  lie  nt^t  afraid," 
when  they  had  received  Him  into  the  ship,  "immediately  the  ship 
Avas  at  the  land  wliitlier  the\  went,"  although,  but  a  moment  be- 
fore thev  were  in  the  midst  of  the  sea. 


TRUK  SPIRIT  OF  MISSIONS.  75 

Let  the  church  see  in  this  the  picture  of  her  rescue  and  the  evil 
principalities  and  power  that  assail  her,  the  revelation  of  this  de- 
feat. What  time  the  night  is  darkest,  what  time  the  storm  is  fierc- 
est, what  time  the  rowers'  arms  are  weariest  and  their  hearts  are 
readiest  to  faint,  behold  He  cometh,  to  whom  the  Father  hath 
given  all  power  in  Heaven  and  in  earth.  He  will  quell  the  rage 
of  men  and  of  devils.  He  will  tread  down  their  power,  and  at 
His  coming  immediately  the  ship  will  be  at  the  haven  whither 
it  is  bound.  For  every  time  of  need  or  trial,  the  gracious  word, 
''Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  the  days,"  gives  assurance  that  our  "labor 
is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord,"  that  "he  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth, 
bearing  precious  seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  with  rejoicing 
bringing  in  his  sheaves  with  him."  And  more,  the  "blessed  hope 
and  glorious  appearing  of  our  great  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ" 
justify  our  absolute  confidence  in  the  efficiency  of  the  "glorious 
gospel  of  the  blessed  God."  to  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations. 
Therefore  send  it  forth  "into  all  the  world"  and  "unto  every  crea- 
lure,"  "for  His  name's  sake." 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  IN  EGYPT. 

THE    REV.    CHARLES    R.    WATSON. 

As  we  address  ourselves  to  our  theme,  "Fifty  Years  of  Foreign 
Missions  in  Egypt,"  it  is  necessary  to  recognize  the  clearly  defined 
limitations  of  our  subject: 

Ours  is  a  limited  theme.  It  is  not  the  archaeology,  nor  the 
politics,  nor  the  irrigation  of  Egypt  with  which  we  have  to  do. 
It  is  not  travel,  nor  romance,  nor  a  comparative  study  of  religions 
which  is  before  us.  On  each  of  these  subjects  there  are  books  by 
the  score.  Our  theme  limits  us  to  foreign  missionary  work  in 
Egypt,  and  we  are  even  required  to  pass  by  in  silence  those  early 
efiforts  of  the  Moravian  Church  and  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society — efforts  which  preceded  and  helped  to  prepare  the  way  for 
our  incoming. 

The  aim  of  our  discussion  of  this  theme  is  also  to  be  clearly 
recognized.  It  is  no  selfish  aim.  We  are  indeed  celebrating  a 
half-century  of  the  foreign  missionary  work  of  our  denomination 
— the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America — but  we 
recognize  that  if  it  is  given  to  a  particular  regiment  to  storm  a 
stronghold  of  the  enemy  the  glory  of  the  achievement  is  shared 
in  by  the  whole  army,  and  the  captured  fortress  belongs  to  the 
whole  winning  side,  as  represented  in  the  commander-in-chief  wha 
ordered  its  taking.  Back  of  the  triumph  of  our  own  Church  is  the 
triumph  of  the.  Gospel,  and  back  of  the  Gospel  is  Christ.  At  His 
feet  we  lay  our  laurels  down. 

No  great  movement  is  intelligible  apart  from  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  is  accomplished.  To  understand  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary movement  of  the  past  fifty  years  in  Egypt  we  must  know 
something  about  the  conditions  under  which  this  work  was  car- 
ried on. 

CoxDiTioxs  OF  Mission    Work. 

The  ICgypt  of  1854  was  territorially  as  large  as  it  is  to-day,  but 
its  poi)ulation  was  considerably  less  than  it  is  now.  Then,  as  now, 
Egypt  proper  extended  from  the  Mediterranean  along  the  Nile 
Valley  to  the  Second  Cataract.  969  miles.    Then,  as  now,  the  por- 

7G 


FIFTY    YFARS   Ol'    FORFIGN    MISSIONS    IN'    KCYI'T.  77 

tion  lying  between  the  First  and  Second  Cataracts  was  of  little 
consequence.  Imagine  a  valley  on  an  average  seven  and  one-half 
miles  in  width,  the  river  Nile  in  the  center,  a  narrow  strip  of 
cultivated  land  on  each  side,  limestone  ranges  of  hills  one  on 
each  side,  and  beyond  these  the  'man-eating  desert."  to  use  an 
Oriental  phrase ;  then  imagine  this  narrow  fertile  valley  opening 
into  a  veritable  garden — the  Delta — 2,740,000  acres  of  the  richest 
soil  in  the  world,  and  you  have  a  fair  idea  both  of  the  Egypt  of 
yesterday  and  of  the  Egypt  of  to-day,  a  land  whose  total  cultivated 
area  is  barely  that  of  our  two  small  States,  New  Hampshire  and 
Connecticut,  and  yet  the  granary  of  the  world,  the  coveted  prize  of 
fifty  centuries  of  conqueror?.,  the  home  of  the  eldest  civilization 
the  world  has  ever  known,  and  the  seat  of  some  of  the  mightiest 
world  powers  that  have  molded  history.  Such  is  the  country 
which  our  foreign  missionary  movement  has  purposed  occupying. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  in  the  days  of  Emperor 
Augustine,  the  population  of  Egypt  was  computed  at  ( 25  millions, 
including  Tripoli)  about  18  millions.  This  gives  us  some  idea 
of  the  population  which  this  fertile  valley  may  well  support.  One 
hundred  years  ago,  however,  at  the  time  of  the  French  expedition 
into  Egypt,  the  population  was  estimated  at  a  bare  two  and  a  half 
millioii.  This  gives  us  some  idea  of  the  possible  reduction  ot 
population,  almost  approaching  extinction,  through  war,  tyranny 
and  epidemic.  When  our  first  missionaries  reached  Egypt  the 
population  of  Egypt  was  reckoned  to  be  five  millions  ;  to-day  it  is 
almost  ten.  Such  is  the  population  which  our  foreign  missionary 
movement  has  purjiosed  reaching. 

In  setting  about  their  task  of  making  Jesus  Christ  known  to 
the  people  of  Egypt  our  early  missionaries  found  themsehes  con- 
fronted by  certain  clearly  defined  problems : 

I.  One  of  the  problems  arose  from  the  hostile  character  of 
Egypt's  existing  form  of  government.      We  pass  this  problem  by. 

II.  Another  problem  with  which  our  early  missionaries  to 
Egypt  had  to  do  was  that  of  ignorance  and  illiteracy.  This  prob- 
lem we  also  pass  by  for  lack  of  time. 

III.  Another  and  the  chief  problem  of  foreign  missionary 
work  in  Egypt  was  that  which  had  to  do  with  the  religious  faith 
of  the  Egyptians.  In  Egypt  we  have  to  do  with  two  religious 
systems— that  of  the  Mohammedan  world  and  that  of  the  Coptic 
Church.  It  is  wholly  impossi])le.  with  the  time  at  cur  disposal,  to 
set  forth  in  detail  the  doctrines  and  practices  of  these  two  religions. 
Rather  must  we  limit  ourselves  to  tlie  briefest  pen  sketches: 


78  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

(i).  First,  Mohammedanism.  One  out  of  eight  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  whole  world  is  Mohammedan,  but  in  Egypt  nine  out  of 
ten  of  the  population  are  Mohammedan.  Concerning  this  religion 
certain  outstanding  facts  are  well  known :  Mohammedanism  has 
for  its  prophet,  Mohammed ;  for  its  Bible,  the  Koran ;  Friday  for 
Sabbath ;  its  creed  is. "there  is  no  God  but  Allah,  and  Mohannned 
is  the  prophet  of  God ;"  for  its  code  of  morals,  regulated  license  ; 
for  its  method  of  salvation,  good  works,  and  for  its  means  of 
persuasion,  the  sword. 

It  is  necessary,  however,  to  emphasize  certain  leading  differ- 
ences between  it  and  Christianity,  differences  which  become  acute 
in  missionary  endeavor : 

There  is  the  Moslem  conception  of  God.  The  glory  of  Moham- 
.medanism  is  its  monotheism.  The  Moslem  warrior's  cry,  "La 
Ilaha:  il  Allah,"  "There  is  no  God  but  God,"  at  once  pronounces 
the  infinite  superiority  of  Mohammedanism  over  the  crass  idolatry 
of  heathenism,  and  wherever  ^Mohammedanism  comes  into  touch 
with  idolatry  there  is  sufficient  power  in  this  monotheistic  faith 
to  enable  it  to  win,  in  spite  of  all  that  is  to  be  charged  against  it. 
But  the  Moslem  conception  of  God  stands  condemned  as  defective 
when  placed  in  the  light  of  that  knowledge  of  God  which  we  have 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ.  Yonder,  in  His  cold  gray  clouds  is  the 
Moslem  God  glorious  indeed  in  His  unity,  but  distant  and  un- 
approachable in  His  sovereignty  and  power.  Your  heart  may 
break  with  sorrow  upon  earth,  there  is  no  God  of  Love  who  takes 
note.  Your  needs  may  be  voiced  in  agonizing  prayer  to  heaven ; 
it  matters  not,  the  heavens  are  as  brass ;  He  hears  not  and  heeds 
not ;  He  is  too  great.  And  so  it  comes  that  the  Moslem's  prayer  is 
that  of  adoration ;  it  is  never  that  of  communion.  To  his  Creator 
the  Moslem  may  offer  worship,  but  with  the 'Creator  he  may  never 
have  fellowship.  Whether  as  cause  or  as  result  of  this  conception 
of  God,  Mohammedanism  offers  no  mediator  between  God  and 
man.    Jesus  was  a  great  prophet ;  more  than  that  He  was  not. 

A  second  difference  appears  in  the  conception  of  morality. 
Mohammedanism  is  essentially  an  unmoral  religion,  for  morality 
has  no  essential  character.  Morality  is  subordinated  to  sover- 
eignty. Tliat  which  is  decreed  or  commanded  is  right.  Some  one 
has  said  "It  is  not  safe  to  give  a  sovereign  place  even  to  Deity 
until  we  are  assured  of  his  character."  But.  examining  Moham- 
medanism, wc  find  its  deity  vested  with  sovereignty,  but  not  with 
righteousness.  What  He  does  is  right  because  He  does  it,  and  it  is 
conceivable  that  He  should  decree  theft,  nnu'der.  crime  of  anv  sort : 


IIFI'V    VICARS    OF    I'ORKIGN    MISSIONS    IN    EGYPT.  79' 

it  iK'Conics  rij^ht  by  His  decree.  1'lie  inllucnce  of  such  conceptions 
of  morality  upon  practical  living-  are  easy  to  see,  and  it  explains 
the  fanaticism  and  unreasonableness  so  characteristic  of  the  adher- 
ents of  this  religion,  for  with  them  "might  makes  right." 

Anot'hcr  difference  to  be  noted  is  that  ivhich  arises  out  of  the 
Moslem  doctrine  of  fJie  decrees,  that  fatalism  which  makes  life  but 
a  "checker  board  of  nights  and  days  where  destiny  with  men  for 
pieces  plays."  This  doctrine  explains  the  apathy  which  Moham- 
medanism has  displayed  toward  every  appeal  and  the  indifference 
with  which  crises,  rich  with  possibilities  for  progress,  are  allowed 
to  pass  unnoticed. 

(2)  To  pass  from  the  ^Moslem  faith  to  that  of  the  Coptic 
Church,  the  question  may  be  asked  why  waste  precious  time  in 
defining  the  religious  position  of  a  paltry  one- fourteenth  of  the 
population  of  Egypt.  As  we  shall  trace  shortly  the  remarkable 
successes  which  our  missionary  efforts  have  achieved  among  the 
adherents  of  this  faith,  full  justification  will  appear  for  a  brief  ref- 
erence to  their  history,  faith  and  life. 

The  Copts  of  to-day  are  the  lineal  descendants  of  the  Christians 
of  the  early  centuries  of  our  Christian  era.  and  the  Coptic  Church 
is  in  direct  succession  to  the  early  Apostolic  Church  in  Egypt. 
Trad^ition  and  other  evidence  botii  allow  and  point  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Christian  Church  in  Egypt,  through  the  efforts  and 
co-operation  of  Mark  and  possibly  also  of  Peter.  An  ancient  set- 
tlement, formerly  of  Jews,  bears  to-day  the  name  Bablun  and 
clain:s  to  be  the  Babylon  from  which  Peter's  epistles  were  penned. 
We  have  no  time  to  trace  the  history  of  the  foundation  and  estab- 
lishment of  this  Christian  Church,  but,  he  it  remembered,  that 
in  the  fourth  century  Christianity  had  made  such  headway  ii» 
Egypt  that,  at  least  formally,  Eg3-pt  was  recognized  as  a  Chris- 
tian nation,  and  the  power  of  the  patriarch  exceeded  that  of  the 
civil  ruler.  It  was  this  Christian  activity  which  produced  such 
men  as  Pantaenus  and  his  more  able  scholar,  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria, that  illustrious  scholar  and  encyclopedic  writer  Origen  and 
later  on  Didymus,  the  blind  teacher,  and  still  later,  and  greatest  of 
all, Athanasius,  defender  of  the  Trinitarian  faith  against  Arianism, 
Such  are  the  antecedents  of  the  Coptic  Church  to-day;  but  here 
we  need  to  remember  Dr.  A.  ^[.  Fairbairn's  remark:  "No  Church 
can  live  on  its  past ;  it  must  live  by  faith  and  duty  in  the  present;: 
no  Cliurch  has  any  claim  to  be  whose  only  right  is  historical." 

So  we  rightly  ask  what  of  the  present  of  this  church  which 
possesses   such  noble  ancestry.     Alas !   it   is   scarcelv  possible   tc 


-80  roUEiGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

■i)riii,i^  one's  thoui,Hits  ](t\v  enough  to  appreciate  the  present  degra- 
dation of  this  ancient  Church,  unless  we  follow  her  through  the 
years  of  her  history  and  see  that  gradual  loss  of  prestige  and 
power,  that  vitiation  of  doctrine  and  that  distortion  of  life  which 
were  her  unfortunate  experiences  and  which  have  brought  her  to 
Ik  r  i)resent  low  estate  as  one  of  the  fallen  churches  of  the  East. 

in  (Icseriliing  this  Coptic  Church  as  it  was  in  1854,  when  our 
lirst  missionaries  arrived  in  Cairo,  it  will  be  necessary  to  modify 
the  descrii)tion  at  a  few  points  to  make  it  a  description  of  the 
jiresent  day  Co])tic  Church;  but  in  many,  if  not  the  majority,  of 
respects,  what  was  true  fifty  years  ago  is  essentially  true  of  the 
l.'optic  Church  of  to-day. 

/■Irsf  to  be  noted  is  the  Mowphysite  error  held  by  the  Coptic 
L'hnreh.  At  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  the  Coptic  Church  broke 
away  from  the  orthodox  faith  by  asserting  that,  at  the  incarnation, 
•Christ's  hun-:an  nature  was  transmuted  into  the  divine,  and  that 
iis  a  result  He  possesses  one  nature  instead  of  two.  This  may 
seem  a  nure  subtlety  of  psychological  discussion,  but  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  (_'o])tic  heresy  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  perfect  balance 
between  Christ's  human  and  divine  nature  was  lost;  Christ  be- 
.  came  more  divine  than  human  ;  He  became,  indeed,  so  far  removed 
from  th.e  Innnan  that  He  lost  his  mediating  power;  it  became 
necessary  to  seek  other  mediating  channels,  and  this  led  to  the 
develo])ment  of  a  system  of  Marialotry  and  saint  worship,  which 
lias  proved  the  utter  ruin  of  pure  worship  and  Christian  liberty. 

So  much  for  tlie  lieretical  doctrine  of  the  Coptic  Church;  note 
now  some  of  her  ])ractises.  The  Copts  are  immersionists,  but  not 
in  the  \\\ stern  sense  of  the  term,  for,  while  they  practise  immer- 
-sion  as  the  form  of  baj^tism,  they  practise  infant  baptism.  The  Con- 
fessional is  nearly  as  important  as  in  the  Ronian  Catholic  Church, 
and  transubstantiation  is  the  universal  belief.  71ie  ])riesthood  is 
a  monastic  ])riesthood.  save  that  marriage  is  permissible  where  it 
occurred  before  ordination.  Most  vital  of  all  are  the  c<inceptions 
relating  to  salvation.  I'asting  is  ])ractically  the  ground  of  salva- 
tion. As  someoni'  has  summarized  the  Coi)tic  position,  "the  Mass 
is  the  atonii\g  saerilire.  the  priest  is  the  forgiver,  the  saints,  and 
i'speeially  the  \  ir-in,  ;n\'  tlu'  intercessors,  fasting  is  the  mortifica- 
tion of  the  iKsh,  baptiMU  is  ri'guieration.  the  consecrated  oil  is  the 
Holy  Spirit." 

I -est  the  nni)ri'ssion  n;iy  have  l)een  given  that  the  statements 
just  made  arc  "glittering  generahties"  and  anti(|uated  judgments, 
;uid.  Im-thcr.  hreaiisr  the  riglit  ol  our  (.hureh  to  enter  upon  nu's- 


FII'TY    VlvXRS   OF    FOREIGN    MISSIONS    IN    EGYPT.  81 

sionary  work  among  these  so-called  Christians  of  Egypt  has  been 
attacked,  I  wish  to  quote  the  following  from  the  pens  of  two  of  our 
most  conservative  and  most  experienced  missionaries,  a  recent  ex- 
pression of  their  judgment  of  the  religious  value  of  the  system 
and  organization  which  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Coptic  Church. 

Concerning  the  influence  of  their  religious  teaching  upon  life 
one*  of  these  missionaries  says : 

"I  inquired  recently  of  one  who  knows  the  church  and  its 
people  well  if  he  knew  of  a  wicked  man  who  had  been  truly  re- 
claimed from  his  vices  by  means  of  the  ceremonies  and  usages  of 
the  Coptic  Church.  He  replied  that  he  did  not  know  a  single  case. 
Indeed,  he  spoke  as  if  such  a  result  was  not  expected." 
Concerning  morality  in  daily  life  he  says : 

"In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  great  majority  of  the  Copts 
are  addicted  to  the  common  sins  of  the  nation — lying,  profane 
swearing,  lack  of  strict  honesty  in  their  dealings,  while  not  a  few 
are  given  to  drunkenness  and  other  violations  of  the  moral  law. 
These  sins  are  not  confined  to  any  one  class,  for,  in  many  cases,  not 
only  are  the  common  priests  companions  of  the  immoral  in  their 
wickedness,  but  even  the  higher  dignitaries  among  the  clergy  dare 
•not  rebuke  the  people  for  sins  of  which  they  themselves  are 
guilty." 

Concerning  evangelical  fervor  he  writes,  "Of  this  it  may  be 
asserted  they  are  destitute,"  and  then  he  concludes  with  the  fol- 
lowing illustration : 

"A  few  days  ago  I  was  informed  of  a  young  Copt  wha  had 
been  living  in  sin,  a  drunkard  and  gambler.  So  abandoned  had 
he  become  that  his  father  put  him  out  of  the  house.  After  this 
he  went  to  a  place  several  hundred  miles  distant  from  his  home. 
Here  he  was  met  by  one  of  our  brethren,  who  talked  with  hijn  and 
persuaded  him  to  attend  the  meetings  held  in  our  school  room. 
God  blessed  these  means,  so  that  the  young  man  abandoned  his 
evil  ways,  gave  evidence  of  faith  in  the  Saviour,  applied  for  ad- 
mission to  the  Evangelical  Church  and  was  received.  In  the 
meantime,  the  Copts  in  the  town  did  all  they  could  to  keep  him 
from  attending  the  services,  which  had  been  blessed  to  his  benefit." 
The  other  missionary,!  after  over  forty  years  of  observation, 
writes  as  follows : 

"One  thing  is  certain,  that  the  moral  character  of  a  man  has 

nothing  to  do  with  membership  in  the  Coptic  Church.     Xo  one 

ever  heard  of  a  Copt  being  disciplined  for  drunkenness  or  lying 

or  any  other  evil  practice." 

Again  he  says : 

"To  me  the  outlook  at  present  for  the  spiritual  reformation  of 


*Rev.  Wm.  Harvey.  D.  D.,  missionary  to  Egypt  since  1865. 
fRev.  Andrew  \\'atson,  D.  D..  missionary  to  Egypt  since  1861. 


82  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILKK    CONVENTION. 

the  Coptic  Church  is  much  the  same  as  the  poHtical  outlook  for 
tlie  reformation  of  the  Turkish  Empire." 

These  judgments  of  reliable  observers.  I  would  remind  you.  are 
scarceJy  a  few  months  old. 

Such.  then,  were  the  religious  conditions  which  cur  foreign 
missionaries  had  to  face  a  half  century  ago  in  Egypt:  Moham- 
medanism on  the  one  hand:  proud,  arrogant,  fanatical  in  its  ad- 
herence to  its  monotheistic  faith ;  the  Coptic  Church  on  the  other 
hand :  a  stumbling  block  in  the  presentation  of  Christianity  to  the 
Moslem,  and  yet  an  element  more  responsive  to  the  Gospel  be- 
cause of  its  Christian  antecedents. 

JV.  We  have  yet  to  deal  with  one  more  problem  of  missionary 
service  faced  by  our  early  missionaries.  This  problem  has  to  do 
with  the  position  of  woman.  It  is  the  Social  Problem.  This 
problem  was,  in  large  measure,  a  result  of  those  other  problems 
already  referred  to,  for  if  Ignorance  in  Egypt  has  degraded 
woman.  Government  authority  has  tolerated  and  Rehgion  has 
sanctioned  that  degradation.  The  degradation  of  woman  in 
Egypt  was  as  serious  a  problem  as  any  which  our  early  mission- 
aries faced  half  a  century  ago. 

It  is  not  true  that  the  Koran  teaches  that  woman  has  no  soul, 
but  the  whole  influence  of  Mohammedanism  is  in  that  direction. 
Certainly  the  Orient  is  pretty  much  agreed  that  woman  has  no 
mind,  and  do  not  the  statistics  which  show  that,  in  this  age  of 
enlightenment,  only  one  woman  in  every  too  in  Egypt  can  read, 
seem  to  justify  the  position.  Add  to  this  accepted  doctrine  of  the 
inferiority  of  woman,  that  other  doctrine,  which  is  also  a  cruel 
practise, — that  of  the  seclusion  of  woman, — and  the  intellectual, 
social  and  spiritual  damnation  of  womanhood  becomes  complete. 
Conversation  and  thinking  becomes  limited *by  the  four  mud  walls 
of  the  house,  or  by  the  dark  narrow  street  which  runs  in  front  of 
the  house.  The  endless  succession  of  monotonous  days  is  only 
broken  by  l)irths,  marriages,  or  deaths.  And  remember,  the 
opinion  referred  to  concerning  woman,  and  this  treatment  of 
woman  obtained  throughout  the  whole  social  life  of  Egypt, 
whether  Mohammedan  or  Coptic,  in  the  early  decades  of  cur  for- 
eign missionary  work. 

We  now  have  the  conditions  of  our  early  missionary  effort 
before  us:  We  see  the  missionary  of  the  cross  facing  a  political 
pf.wer  which  will  first  ignore,  then  oppose  and  finally  persecute 
him.  W  f  see  the  missionary  seeking  to  impart  spiritual  know- 
ledge, the  profoundesl  knowledge  in  the  world, — that  concerning 


[.•ji,"r>^'  vi.'ARs  oi'  i'()Ri':iGN  MISSION'S  1  .\  I•;(;^'rT.  S3 

the  Son  of  God — to  a  nation  illiterate,  ignorant  to  a  degree  all 
but  absolute.  We  see  this  same  missionary  of  the  cross  trying  to 
hold  up  the  truth  of  the  gospel  to  minds  blinded  by  the  half-truth 
of  Islam  or  the  distortions  of  a  fallen  Christian  Church.  We  see 
the  pioneer,  whose  gospel  has  for  its  glory  that  it  elevates  woman 
and  sanctifies  the  home,  heralding  this  gospel  to  a  nation  in  which 
woman  is  either  a  toy  or  a  slave.  Surely  only  fools  or  fanatics 
would  dare  to  hope  for  success  amid  such  circumstances  as  these. 
But,  no !  these  first  representatives  of  our  Church  were  neither 
fools  nor  fanatics.  They  were  simply  missionaries  ;  according  to 
Miss  Guinness's  definition,  "God's  men,  in  God's  place,  doing 
God's  work,  in  God's  way  and  for  God's  glory." 

'\\niat  measure  of  success  attended  so  foolhardy  a  task  as  this 
foreign  missionary  effort  carried  on  in  the  face  of  such  insuper- 
able difficulties?  This  brings  us  directly  to  the  consideration  of 
fifty  years  of  missionary  cft'ort  in  Egypt. 

Fifty   Years  of   ^Missionary  Effort  ix   Egypt. 

It  is  manifestly  impossible,  in  fifty  minutes  and  less,  to  deal 
with  the  events  of  fifty  years  of  work,  involving  the  service  of 
more  than  one  hundred  American  missionaries  and  a  great  host 
of  native  workers,  to  say  nothing  of  those  religious,  educational, 
social  and  political  movements  which  have  either  affected,  or  been 
the  result  of  our  missionary  labors  during  the  past  half-century. 
The  most  that  can  be  done  is  to  break  up  the  history  of  our  foreign 
missionary  work  in  Egypt  into  periods,  and  to  set  forth  the  ex- 
periences which  may  be  said  to  characterize  these  periods.  We 
note,  therefore,  seven  distinct  periods ;  the  first  and  third  are 
periods  of  ten  years,  the  r^st  are.  roughly  speaking,  periods  of 
five  years.     These  periods  are  as  follows : 

1854 — 1865  Years  of  beginnings. 

1865 — 1870  Years  of  Coptic  opposition  and  persecution. 

1870 — 1880  Years  of  organization  and  expansion. 

1880 — 1885  Years  of  political  unrest. 

1885 — 1895  Years  of  great  changes. 

1895 — 1900  Years  of  extensive  development. 

1900 — 1904  Years  of  intensive  development. 

A\"e  are  far  from  asserting  that  these  divisions  are  essential  to 
every  logical  study  of  our  half  century  of  missions  in  Egypt. 
Rather  are  these  divisions  made  for  mere  convenience,  and  the 
titles  by  which  they  are  designated,  while  true  in  the  main,  do 


M  fore:ign  missionary  tubii-KK  convention. 

not  set  forth  many  subordinate  and  \et  important  experiences 
which  belong-  to  these  several  periods. 

I.  We  first  have  to  do  with  the  years  of  beginnings,  and  of  all 
beginnings  the  first  was  the  original  decision  to  engage  in  mission 
work  in  Egypt.  How  did  it  come  about  that  mission  work  in 
Egypt  was  resolved  upon  ?  In  the  city  of  Allegheny,  in  the  house 
•of  worship  of  a  congregation  which  to-day  goes  by  the  name  of  the 
First  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Allegheny,  on  Saturday, 
May  2ist,  of  the  year  1853.  at  an  afternoon  session,  a  church 
court,  called  the  General  Synod  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church 
of  the  West,  jiassed  the  following  resolution : 

"Resolved,  That  our  missionaries  be  instructed  to  occupy  Cairo 
at  their  earliest  convenience." 

[f  we  search  for  the  occasion  for  this  action,  we  fintl  it  at  hand 
in  a  communication  signed  by  three  missionaries  of  said  Church 
in  Damascus,  Messrs.  Barnett.  Paulding  and  Frazier,  endorsing  a 
communication  from  one  of  their  number.  Dr.  Paulding,  who  had 
visited  Egypt  in  search  of  health,  and  who  was  impressed  with  the 
need  of  establishing  a  mission  there.  The  reasons  given  by  these 
missionaries  in  Syria  for  the  establishment  of  a  mission  in  Egypt 
were :  ( i )  To  save  to  the  Church  the  services  of  Dr.  Paulding, 
whose  health  permitted  him  to  labor  in  Egypt,  but  did  not  permit 
hi'm  to  labor  in  Syria;  (2)  to  afford  relief  from  a  sense  of  limita- 
tion which  these  Syrian  missionaries  were  experiencing  in  their 
mission  field  at  Damascus;  (3)  to  open  up  in  Egypt  a  refuge  for 
the  missionaries  in  Syria,  in  view  of  political  dangers  impending 
within  the  Tm-kish  Empire;  (4)  to  meet  the  spiritual  needs  of  the 
land  of  Egyi)t. 

Which  one  of  these  reasons  weighed  most  with  the  Synod  in  its 
•<lecisi(!n  to  authorize  the  establishment  of  a  mission  in  Egypt  mat- 
tiT-  but  little.  The  fact  which  calls  for  recognition  and  emphasis 
is  that  this  action  was  suggested  by  a  remarkable  Providence,  and 
was  subse(|uently  approved  by  further  Providences,  so  manifest 
as  to  ])ut  beyoiKl  all  doubt  the  question  of  this  being  the  will  of 
•God.  Watch  the  invalid  missionary  as  he  leaves  Syria  in  search  of 
health  ;  see  the  Providence  which  leads  him  to  Egypt,  mark  the  cc^- 
incident  consciousness  of  limitation  in  missionary  service  in  Syria 
suggesting  the  need  of  a  wider  field  ;  take  note  of  the  coincident 
abandonment  of  Egypt  by  another  missionary  organization  which 
had  been  laboring  there  for  some  years,  but  without  sul^cient 
success;  consider  the  t-ntire  agreement  of  the  Syrian  missionaries 
among  themselves  as  to  the  jiropriety  of  establishing  this  work  in 


FIFTY   YFARS    OF    FORFiGN    MISSIONS    IX    KCYl'T.  8.> 

Egypt :  add  to  that  the  hearty  endorsement  of  this  position  by  the 
Church  in  America,  and  finally,  but  especially,  complete  the  chain 
of  evidence  by  noting  how  this  most  attractive,  convenient  and 
strategic  of  all  mission  fields  has  been  strangely  reserved,  until 
quite  recent  years,  c.vchisk'cly  for  the  unhampered  missionary 
operations  of  our  Church  ;  weigh  all  these  facts  fairly  and  hon- 
estly, and  is  it  possible  to  ask  for  clearer,  more  unmistakable  proof 
that  God  has  committed  the  evangelization  of  this  land  of  Egypt 
to  our  Church?  Here  we  express  our  sober  conviction  that  it  is 
this  Providence  and  a  similar  unmistakable  Providence  in  connec- 
tion with  the  entrance  of  our  Church  into  India  and  the  Sudan, 
which  constitutes  the  claim  upon  us  to  evangelize  these  mission 
fields.  If  it  were  accident,  if  it  were  mere  human  reasoning 
which  led  our  Church  into  these  mission  fields,  then  at  any 
moment  the  same  law  of  accident  or  a  reversal  of  human  logic 
might  relieve  us  of  responsibility  for  the  evangelization  of  these 
fields. 

But  we  deny  the  right  of  any  to  build  on  such  flimsy  premises. 
We  have  higher  authority  for  our  service  of  Christ  in  foreign 
lands.  We  have  Christ's  own  command,  given  clearly  by  the 
guidance  of  His  Spirit  and  confirmed  by  the  experience  of  fifty 
years  of  His  providence.  We  have  that  command,  irrevocable, 
until  tlie  command  is  obeyed  and  until  His  will  is  fulfilled  in  the 
evangelization  of  these  fields.  It  is  folly  to  make  comparisons 
with  the  work  of  other  Churches  and  to  argue  about  our  Church 
having  more  than  her  share  .of  foreign  missionary  work.  Does 
any  Commander-in-Chief  assign  to  each  regiment  an  equal  share 
in  all  kinds  of  military  service,  and  would  any  regiment  dream  of 
claiming  it  as  a  right  that  it  should  not  be  sent  out  on  a  charge 
because  it  has  }iot  yet  had  its  share  of  garrison  diityf  Has  Christ 
no  right  over  His  Church  to  say,  Go ;  and  to  say,  Come  ?  And 
how  does  He  issue  His  orders  save  by  such  Providences  inter- 
preted by  His  Spirit  to  the  heart  of  His  Church  ?  The  Providence 
which  led  to  the  occupation  of  Egypt  was  paramount  to  a  direct 
divine  command. 

We  have  called  the  first  ten  years  of  the  half-century  we  are 
celebrating.  Years  of  Beginnings.      Such  they  were. 

In  this  period  fall  the  first  occupation  of  Egypt  (1854),  the 
first  English  service  (Christmas  Day,  of  1854),  the  first  Arabic 
service  (January  21,  1855),  the  first  cholera  scourge  (1855),  the 
opening  of  the  first  boys'  school  (this  at  Cairo,  in  1855),  the  first 
reported    book    distribution    (1856),    the    first    Nile    Boat    work 


8G  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

(1857).  the  first  occupation  of  Alexandria  (1857),  the  first  death 
in  a  missionary's  family  (1857),  the  arrival  of  the  first  unmarried 
woman  missionary  (1858),  the  operation  of  the  First  Girls' 
School  at  Alexandria  (1858),  the  admission  of  the  first  converts 
into  Church  fellowship  (this  in  1859 — four  after  five  years  of  ser- 
vice a  Coptic  monk,  another  Egyptian,  an  Armenian  and  a 
Syrian),  the  opening  of  the  first  book  store  (1859),  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  first  Presbytery  ( i860) ,  the  opening  of  the  first  girls' 
school  at  Cairo  (i860),  the  purchase  of  the  first  Mission  boat, 
the  "This"  (i860),  the  first  serious  persecution  (1861),  the  pur- 
chase of  the  first  Mission  premises  (1862),  the  first  evangelistic 
work  as  far  up  as  Assuan  (1862),  the  first  visit  of  a  Secretary 
of  the  Board,  Rev.  J.  B.  Dales,  D.  D.,  to  Egypt  (1863),  the  or- 
ganization of  the  first  congregation  (this  at  Cairo,  in  1863),  the 
first  and  greatest  romance  of  the  Egyptian  Mission,  when  an 
Indian  prince  visited  the  Mission  and  saw  in  the  Cairo  Girls' 
School  a  fair  face,  which  he  couldn't  forget  (1864),  the  first  class 
in  our  Egyptian  Theological  Seminary  ( 1864) .  Without  contra- 
diction these  were  years  of  beginnings. 

If  this  decade  of  our  Foreign  Missionary  work  in  Egypt  is 
designated  Years  of  Beginning,  we  should  emphasize  that  there  is 
no  intention  of  belittling  the  importance  of  these  years.  On  the 
contrary,  even  a  superficial  study  will  show  that  these  first  ten 
years  gave  direction  and  character  to  all  the  years  which  have 
followed.  The  evangelistic  work  done  with  the  Nile  Boat  in  1857 
l)esi)oke  that  systematic  and  wide  evangelistic  work  which  was 
carried  on  in  later  years  from  the  seaboard  to  the  First  Cataract. 
The  arrival  of  Miss  Dales  in  Egypt  was  only  the  harbinger  of 
Woman's  Work  for  Woman,  which  is  to-day  so  large  a  part  of 
our  missionary  enterprise.  The  first  schools  of  1855  and  1858 
were  but  the  forerunners  of  that  Educational  Method  which 
perhaps  more  than  any  other  has  characterized  our  work  in  Egypt. 
The  first  four  who  sat  at  the  Lord's  table,  in  1859,  foretold  that 
ingathering  of  the  thousands  who  have  since  then  been  made  par- 
takers of  a  pure  gospel.  That  first  native  congregation  organized 
at  Cairo  in  1863  was  the  forerunner  of  that  native  church  which 
now  numbers  53  congregations  and  claims  7324  members.  The 
Book  Distribution  of  1856  and  the  book  store  opened  in  1859  were 
the  first  signs  of  that  far-reaching  colporteur  work  which  has 
engaged  the  attention  not  only  of  our  ^lissinn  l)ul  (if  the  two 
Bil)]e  Societies,  the  American  liible  Society  and  tlie  British  and 
l'\)reitrn  P.ihle  Societv. 


riFTY  YliARS   OF    FORFiGN   MISSIONS    IN    FGYPT.  87 

Thus  we  find,  in  this  first  decade,  the  germ  of  ahnost  every  de- 
partment of  missionary'  work :  the  EvangeHstic,  the  Educational, 
the  Colporteur,  the  Native  Church,  Women's  Work.  Medical 
work  alone  has  not  yet  appeared,  but  even  with  reference  to  this, 
the  needs  of  the  missionaries  themselves  had  about  led  them  to 
appeal  to  the  Home  Church  for  a  medical  missionary,  when  a 
resident  English  physician  met  their  need. 

II.  The  next  period  we  have  to  deal  with  is  that  which  lies 
between  the  years  1865  and  1870.  Many  experiences  which 
would  be  of  interest  to  the  Church  and  which  were  vitally  im- 
portant to  the  work,  belong  to  this  period,  but  time  does  not 
permit  reference  to  them.  We  have  designated  the  years  1865- 
1870  Years  of  Coptic  Persecution  and  Opposition.  Here  was 
an  experience,  acute  enough,  far-reaching  enough,  to  warrant  the 
entire  period  being  characterized  by  it. 

The  Coptic  Church,  claiming  one-fourteenth  of  the  population 
of  Egypt,  is  strongest  in  Upper  Egypt,  constituting  in  Lower 
Egypt  but  3  per  cent,  of  the  population,  whereas  in  Upper  Egypt 
the  Copts  make  up  eleven  and  six-tenths  per  cent,  of  the  popula- 
tion; one-fourth  of  the  population  of  Assiut  was  Coptic  in  the 
early  days  of  our  missionary  work.  In  developing  the  work  to 
the  South,  and  especially  in  opening  up  a  station  at  Assiut  in 
1865,  Aur  mission  w^as  invading  the  territory  of  the  Coptic  Church. 
That  opposition  and  even  persecution  were  bound  to  follow  could 
be  readily  inferred  from  the  hostility  -which  the  Copts  had  already 
begun  to  show  to  our  work  at  Cairo.  That  our  missionaries 
anticipated  just  such  difficulties  can  be  readily  seen  by  a  perusal 
of  Dr.  Hogg's  diary  for  this  year.      It  reads,  in  part,  as  follows : 

"Stole  a  march  on  the  wakeful  Patriarch.  A  month  at  work 
in  Osiout  (Assiut)  before  his  envoy  arrived.  An  open  door. 
Counted  sixty-five  men  present  on  the  third  Sabbath."  Then 
comes  the  following:  "The  haram  (or  interdict).  The  door 
closed.  Try  to  find  a  back  entrance  by  means  of  the  children  of 
the  peasantry  who  come  to  our  school  from  the  villages  around." 

It  was  in  1867  that  the  Coptic  Persecution  broke  out  in  all  its 
fury.  This  persecution  was  not  an  accidental  outbreak  of  fana,tical 
jealousy  and  hate.  It  was  a  deliberate  plan  in  which  the  govern- 
ment lent  its  authority  and  influence  to  make  efifective  the  efforts 
of  the  Coptic  Church  to  wipe  out  Protestantism  forever.  Ismail, 
the  reigning  Khedive,  was  far-sighted  enough  to  appreciate 
that  the  intellectual  standards  which  the  American  mission- 
aries were  setting  up  w^ould,  directly  or  indirectly,  result  in  hold- 
ing up  to  criticism  and  condemnation  his  unjust  and  tyrannical 


88  I'OREIGX    MISSIONARY    lUBILRE    CONVENTION. 

treatment  of  his  i,e^norant  and  patient  subjects.  To  directly 
attack  the  missionaries  and  the  Protestant  community  would 
bring-  him  into  difficulty  with  the  foreign  Consuls,  and  would 
damage  the  reputation  which  he  especially  wished  to  enjoy  of 
being  a  liberal-minded  ruler.  In  the  hostility  of  the  Coptic 
hierarchy  to  the  Protestant  reformers,  he  found  a  convenient  tool 
for  the  accompli-shment  of  his  purposes.  It  is  easy  in  the  East  to 
give  a  hint,  and  a  hint  is  enougli  to  create  a  revolution.  The 
hint  was  given  and  a  revolution  of  sentiment  followed.  The 
Coptic  Tatriarch,  regarded  by  all  devout  Copts  as  the  vicar  of 
Christ  on  eartli  and  called  by  them  the  "earthly  Christ,""  arranged 
an  apostolic  tour  among  the  churches  of  Upper  Egypt.  His 
retinue  made  no  secret  of  his  mission,  and,  declaring  this  to  be  for 
the  supression  of  the  Protestant  heresy,  they  boldly  asserted  that 
the  X'iceroy  had  conferred  upon  His  Holiness  the  right  to  con- 
demn to  the  gaHeys  all  those  who  opposed  him  by  adhering  to  the 
Protestant  faith,  or  to  seize  their  children  for  the  army. 

There  is  no  more  interesting  chapter  in  the  history  of  our 
mission  in  Egypt  than  that  which  tells  of  this  persecution.  We 
have  time  only  to  refer  to  some  of  the  main  facts.  At  Assiut, 
the  Patriarch"s  entrance  into  the  city  was  made  to  imitate  Christ's 
triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem:  "Seated  on  a  donkey  and  pre- 
ceded by  the  priests  and  boys,  bearing  crosses,  flags,  ])alni 
branches,  lighted  candles,  and  burning  censors,  beating  on  cymbals 
and  chanting  in  Coptic  as  they  went  along,  'Hosanna  to  the  Son- 
of  David,  blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  the 
procession  moved  slowly  along  from  the  river  up  to  the  town, 
armed  soldiers  marching  in  front  and  in  rear,  by  order  of  the 
government." 

The  task  of  purifying  (  ?)  the  Church  occupied  the  Patriarch's 
whole  attention  while  he  was  in  Assiut.  His  first  act  was  charac- 
teristic of  those  which  followed.  lie  summoned  before  him  "the 
Coptic  priest  of  Beni  Aleig,  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  ])er- 
mitting  his  brother,  one  of  our  theological  students,  to  conduct  th.e 
evangelistic  service  in  his  church  at  the  close  of  the  Coptic  mass 
on  Sal)baths.  and  after  having  him  severely  beaten  by  one  of  the 
government  soldiers,  he  degraded  him  from  his  priesthood  and 
drove  him  out  of  his  presence."  Unable  to  attack  the  Protestant 
Church  it.self,  the  Patriarch  undertook  to  destroy  the  IVotestant 
schools  by  attacking  the  i)arents  of  the  scholars.  Most  of  the 
students,  however,  were  from  di.stant  provinces,  and  the  local 
authority  failed,  therefore,  to  reach  them.  Three  students  of  the 
l)roviiu-c   of   .Assiut   had   been   publicly   cursed   by    the   l^ishop   of 


FIFTY   YEARS   OF    FORKlGN    MISSIONS    IX    KOYl'T.  89 

Assiut  just  before  the  Patriarch  arrived.  One  of  these,  the 
brother  of  the  Coptic  priest  already  mentioned,  had  been  pubHcly 
cursed  before,  and  an  additional  curse  or  two  did  not  seem  to 
weigh  on  him.  In  most  cases,  however,  the  Patriarch's  influence 
availed  much  and  the  mission  school  fell  away,  the  hoys  fearing 
the  threat  of  conscription  into  the  army.     . 

We  have  not  time  to  follow  the  movement  of  persecution  as  it 
increased  in  fury  the  further  the  Patriarch  went  on  his  journey 
up  the  Nile.  The  story  of  the  imprisonment  and  exile  and 
deliverance  of  Fam  Stephanos  is  as  interesting  as  anything  in 
fiction,  and  is  a  wonderful  parallel  to  Peter's  deliverance  .from 
prison  in  the  days  of  Herod.  The  following  extracts  from  Dr. 
Hogg's  diary,  written,  in  the  main,  from  Assiut,  must  suffice  to 
give  us  the  run  of  events  during  this  period : 

"1867:  Patriarchal  raid.  Pretends  to  have  delegated  ])ower  to 
send  all  Protestants  to  the  public  works,  the  army,  or  the  White 
Nile.  (Then  quoting  the  Patriarch.)  7  and  the  Viceroy  are  one !' 
A  bonfire  of  Protestant  books  in  the  court  of  the  Bishop's  house — 
the  Patriarch  looking  on  !  Beats  Girgis  Bishetly  at  Ekhmeem  and 
intrigues  for  the  banishment  to  the  White  Nile  of  the  leading 
Protestants  of  Koos.  Follow  him  up  to  Ekhmeem  and  afterwards 
to  Koos.  Correspondence  with  English  Acting  Consul  General. 
Fam  and  his  companions  are  saved.  The  Nicodemuses  at  ( )sioot 
(AssJiut)  gather  courage.  Open  a  night  school  for  adults.  1'he 
Bishop  denounces  it." 

The  next  year:  "1868:  The  enlightened  Abbot  of  Deyr  El 
Maharrak,  deposed  by  the  Patriarch,  comes  to  Osioot  (Assiut). 
Inquirers  ask  his  advice.  .Refers  to  Scriptures.  Signs  of  a 
general  movement  visible.  (We  are)  suddenly  called  off  to  Cairo 
to  take  charge  of  the  press  work.  etc.  Absent  from  A])ril  to 
October.  (We)  charge  Kheyra  and  others  to  improve  the 
opportunity  caused  by  the  lull  in  the  storm — to  meet  together  and 
study  the  word.  Their  meeting  is  transferred  to  the  Coptic 
Church.  Monster  gatherings.  Great  excitement.  On  our 
return  the  night  meetings  are  crowded.  On  Sabbaths  have  often 
to  meet  in  the  open  court.  Hold  communion  there  amid  wind  and 
dust.  The  Patriarchial  Envoy  of  1865  is  in  Osioot  at  the  time. 
Hanna  Wesa,  whose  guest  he  is,  asks  him  whether  he  ought  to 
unite  with  us.  'If  I  were  }-ou,  I  would,'  was  the  astounding 
reply!  Twenty-eight  joined  us  that  da}"  and  the  very  next  day  a 
site  was  bought  for  a  church." 

In  spite  of,  if  not  because  of,  Coptic  o;)]X)sition,  the  infant 
Protestant  Church,  whose  life  was  thus  attacked,  grew  in  numbers 
and  strength.  Numbering  sixty-nine  memlxrs  at  the  beginning 
of  this  period,  it  more  than  doubled,  having  180  members  at  the 
close  of  that  period;  while  the  contril}utinns  to  ch.urch  wor': 
almost  quadrupled,  increasing  from  Si 40  to  S5f)rt. 


90  l^ORElGX    MISSIONARY   JUBIIvKK    COXVENTIOX. 

JII.  The  next  ten  years  of  the  mission,  1870-1880,  may  be  con- 
sidered tog-ether :  Years  of  organization  and  expansion.  Events 
wliich  could  he  l^cttcr  described  by  some  other  title  also  belong 
to  this  period,  such  as  the  interesting  conversion  and  the  subse- 
quent ])ersecution  of  the  Moslem,  Ahmed  Fahmy,  and  such  as  the 
compulsory  abdication  of  Ismail  in  favor  of  his  son  Tewfik  as 
Khedive  of  Egypt.  For  the  narration  of  these  two  most  interest- 
ing events,  we  must  refer  you  to  the  history  of  our  American 
Mission  in  Egypt.  In  the  main,  the  events  which  belong  to  this 
decade  of  our  mission's  history  in  Egypt  are  described  by  the 
words  expansion  and  organization. 

'  Inrst  we  note  the  organization  of  the  Egyptian  Missionary 
Association— a  most  happy  solution  of  a  difficult  problem. 
Hitherto  the  missionary  organization,  as  presbytery,  had  trans- 
acted mission  business.  With  the  ordination  of  native  pastors  a 
difficulty  arose.  It  was  only  a  question  of  time  wdien  the  native 
ministry  and  eldership  would  outnumber  the  foreign  w^orkers. 
This  would  then  give  to  the  native  church  entire  control  of 
foreign  funds,  vesting  it  with  a  power  wdiich  experience  has  uni- 
formly shown  to  be  as  disastrous  as  it  is  contrary  to  the  American 
tradition  of  representation  according  to  taxation.  Foreign 
funds  and  affairs  under  foreign  control,  and  native  funds  and 
affairs  under  native  control — this  is  the  happy  solution  which 
was  accomplished  by  the  organization  of  a  Missionary  Association 
apart  from  Presbytery.  The  former  is  composed  exclusively  of 
missionaries  and  deals  with  foreign  funds  and  workers.  The 
latter  is  organized  along  ecclesiastical  lines,  and  includes  to-day 
an  overwhelming  majority  of  native  pastors  and  elders ;  it  has 
autliorit\  over  native  funds  and  the  affairg  of  the  native  Church. 
Jn  this  period,  also,  the  native  Protestant  Church  w-as  allowed 
by  the  government  a  secular  representative,  this  concession. giving 
it  what  might  be  roughly  described  as  incorporation  privileges, 
a  secular  and  even  a  political  status.  To  this  period  of  organiza- 
tion and  ex])ansion  belongs  the  beginning  of  that  acquisition  of 
])ernianent  i)ropcrty  for  mission  ])urposcs,  which  met  with  criti- 
cism for  a  lime,  but  which  experience  has  proven  to  be  not  only 
wisi'.  but  to  have  been  even  insufficiently  pushed. 

\\\'  note,  also,  the  a])i)carance  of  night  meetings  for  the  study 
of  ( iod's  word.  It  is  a  pity  that  time  does  not  allow  a  detailed 
account  of  this  movement,  which  was  the  surest  proof  of  a  wide- 
s])rea(l  religious  awakening.  In  Assiut  alone,  no  less  than  624 
nigl'.t  meetings  were  heM  during  the  one  }-ear   1873,  while  adjoin- 


Fip-TY   YE;aRS    of    foreign    missions    in    EIGYl'T.  91 

ing-  towns  reported  313,  2)7 Z  ^'^'^^  39i  meetings  each.  In  Sinoris, 
of  the  Fayum  district,  week  meetings  were  held  each  Tuesday, 
Wednesday,  Thursday  and  Saturday. 

The  statistics  of  the  work  during  this  period  justify  the  title 
we  have  applied  to  it — Years  of  Organization  and  Expansion,  In 
these  ten  years  the  two  organized  congregations  of  1870  became 
eleven.  The  membership  of  180,  with  which  the  period  opens, 
more  than  quintuples  in  ten  years,  becoming  985.  The  attendance 
at  services  advances  from  438  to  2083.  Schools  increase  from 
twelve  to  forty-four;  and  instead  of  633  young  lives  under  its 
influence,  the  mission  has  2218.  Grow^th  in  numbers  is  accom- 
panied by  growth  in  grace,  and  in  the  grace  of  liberality  too  (often 
a  supreme  test),  for  while  the  average  of  native  contributions  to 
church  work  was  $3.14  in  1870,  ten  years  later  it  was  $4.80  (and 
yet  the  prosperous  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  North  America 
is  afraid  of  a  $5.00  quota),  while  the  total  contributions  went  up 
from  $566  to  $4726. 

1\'.     The  years  1880-1885  form  a  period  of  political  unrest  in 
the  history  of  mission  work  in  Egypt.      With  the  abdication  of 
Ismail  in  1879,  Egypt  began  to  feel  the  pressure  of  her  national^ 
creditors,  who,  backed  by  European  power,  insisted  on  payment. 
IsmaiVs  reign  has  been  described  as  "a.  carnival  of  extravagance 
and   oppression."      In   the   thirteen   years   of    1863-1876,   he   ran 
Egypt's  debt  up  from  three  millions  to  eighty-nine  millions.     The 
reforms  which  became  necessary  to  liquidate  this  debt  and  save  the 
country   from   bankruptcy   resulted    in   a   revolution,   headed   by 
Arabi.      A  massacre  in  Alexandria,  the  hasty  departure  of  the 
Khedive  and  the  foreign  Consuls,  the  insulting  remarks  hurled 
at  our  missionaries  as  they  walked  the  streets,  warned  our  mis- 
sionaries of  the  coming  storm.      It  was  judged  best  that  the  mis- 
sionaries should  leave  the  country,  as  the  movement  was  anti- 
foreign  and  the  native  brethren  were  thought  safer  without  their 
foreign  leaders.      On  July  11,  1882,  Alexandria  was  bombarded 
by    the    British,    a    brief    land    campaign    followed,    Arabi    was 
defeated,  and  Egypt  was  occupied  by  Great  Britain.      Under  a 
Gladstone    administration,    with    an    over-scrupulous    anxiety    to 
establish  to  the  world  the  purity  of  her  motives   in  occupying 
Egypt,  Great  Britain  made  the  public  declaration  that  her  occupa- 
tion of  Egypt  was  only  a  temporary  one,  and  that  she  would  honor 
all  the  treaties  and  laws  assumed  by  Egypt  previous  to  British 
occupation.       This    unfortunate    consent    to    a    complicated    and 


92  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUP.ILEK    CONVENTION. 

largely  unjust  political  situation  has  unnecessarily  limited  the 
freedom  of  Great  Britain  and  hindered  the  progress  of  Egypt. 

This  unfortunate  agreement  is  to-day  England's  necessity,  as 
some  would  put  it,  or  England's  excuse,  as  others  would  put  it, 
for  maintaining  the  government  of  Egypt  as  a  purely  Mohamme- 
dan government :  ohserving  Friday  for  a  Sabbath.  ^Mohammedan 
law  as  the  national  law,  and  giving  unjust  preference  in  all  posi- 
tions of  honor  and  influence  to  Mohammedan  candidates.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  the  years  1880- 1885  must  ever  be  counted  as  a  most 
momentous  period  in  the  history  of  Egypt,  in  that,  in  this  period, 
England  took  possession  of  Egypt  and  British  influence  began  to 
play  a  part  in  the  development  of  the  life  of  Eg3^pt. 

V.  The  fifth  period,  1885-1895,  is  a  decade  of  great  changes 
in  the  life  of  Egypt  and  the  history  of  our  missionary  work  there. 
Only  those  who  will  take  time  to  read  such  works  as  Milner's 
"England  in  Egypt."  and  Lord  Cromer's  comprehensive  Reports, 
will  appreciate  the  magnificent  changes  wrought  by  Great  Britain 
in  redeeming  the  political, the  judicial, and  the  economic  conditions 
of  Egypt.  This  decade  of  1885  to  1895  witnessed  reforms  which 
were  all  but  revolutionary,  and  transformations  which  were  all  but 
miraculous.  The  departments  of  Finance,  of  Public  fnstruction, 
of  Justice,  of  the  Interior,  of  Public  Works,  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
of  War,  and  of  Trade,  all  began  to  respond  to  a  British  adminis- 
tration characterized  by  honesty,  system  and  enter] )rise.  Taxes 
were  reduced,  in  many  instances  entirely  abolished ;  the  area  of 
cultivated  land  was  increased  by  irrigation,  while  better  methods 
of  irrigation  increased  the  value  of  land  previously  cultivated ; 
public  schools  more  than  doubled:  the  dreaded  con'ce  or  forced 
labor  was  abolished  :  im])orts  increased  by  more  than  ten  millions 
of  dollars;  Egyptian  ])()n(ls  rose  in  value,  and  the  national  debt 
was  materially  reduced.  The  Old  Egypt  of  tyranny  and  bank- 
ruptcy began  to  pass  a\va>-.  and  a  Ne7V  Egypt  of  justice  and  ])ros- 
pcrity  began  to  take  its  place.  Last  winter  in  an  interview  which 
it  was  our  privilege  to  have  with  Lord  Cromer,  he  said:  "Yes, 
the  Egyptian  is  better  off  to-day  than  ever  before;  he  has  more 
to  cat,  dresses  better,  has  more  money,  but  whetlier  he  is  a  l)etter 
man" — and  here  the  shrewd,  capable  statesman  who  has  worked 
out  the  material  and  ])olitical  redemption  of  Egyi)t  shrugged  his 
shoulders  and  said,  "I  don't  know."  Oh,  the  pathos  of  the  con- 
fession!  Yet  it  is  true:  with  all  reforms  of  the  law,  improvement 
of  irrigation,  development  of  public  instruction,  temporal  pros- 
perity, hilt  without  Christ,  the  pVyptian  will  never  be  a  better  man. 


FIFTY    VFARS    OF    FORFiGN    MISSIONS    IN    KGYPT.  93 

and  the  real  redcmi)tion  of  Egypt  will  not  have  been  accomplished, 

Turning-  to  the  history  of  mission  work  during  this  decade, 
here,  too,  we  find  it  a  period  marked  by  changes.  There  are 
changes  of  leadership,  for  in  1886,  the  Rev.  John  Hogg  died,  a 
prince  of  Christian  workers,  and  one  on  whom  the  Protestant 
communitv,  in  many  places,  depended  so  entirely  for  encourage- 
ment, advice  and  leadership,  that  the  people  were  at  his  death 
saved  from  despair  alone  by  the  historic  saying,  "God  is  not  dead." 
At  his  funeral,  as  the  people  passed  by  the  cotifin  in  a  seemingly 
endless  procession,  "to  look  for  the  last  time  on  the  placid  face  of 
the  great  and  good  man  who  had  done  so  much  and  labored  so 
long  in  their  midst,"  the  Mohammedan  governor  who  was  present, 
exclaimed,  "How  they  loved  this  man  !"  and  this  governor  and  his 
attendants  showed  their  respect  for  the  deceased  by  walking  to  the 
city  limits. 

This  period  records  the  death  of  another  kingly  character.  Dr. 
Gulian  Lansing,  and  the  departure  from  Egypt  of  Miss  ?\Iartha  J. 
McKown,  who,  with  Miss  Dales,  was  pioneer  in  Woman's  work 
in  Egypt,  and  the  death,  in  America,  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Dales,  the  cor- 
responding Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  whose 
interest  in  the  work  had  endeared  him  to  so  many  missionaries. 

This*  period  also  marks  the  first  appearance  in  Egypt  of  mis- 
sionary societies  other  than  our  own  and  other  than  those  of  a 
purely  local  or  institutional  character.  The  North  African 
Missionary  and  the  Church  Missionary  Society  entered  the  field, 
and  while  ^ve  rejoice  in  their  co-operation  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
it  is  regrettable  that  the  solid  front  which  one  evangelical  Church 
has  hitherto  presented  is  now  divided  by  the  appearance  of  other 
missionary  and  other  ecclesiastical  organizations.  Llad  our 
Church  occupied  the  field  as  she  should  have  done,  this  would 
probably  not  have  happened. 

This  decade,  1885-1895,  also  marks  a  definitely  new  move- 
ment on  the  part  of  our  Mission.  Absorbed  with  the  opportunity 
for  evangelizing  the  Copts  and  for  extending  the  work  into  Upper 
Egypt,  little  thought  and  less  eiTort  could  be  spared  for  consider- 
ing and  meeting  the  needs  of  the  Delta  population,  wdiich  is  almost 
solidly  ^Mohammedan.  In  i8e;3,  however,  a  missionary  station 
was  opened  at  Tanta  ;  in  1894,  missionary  stations  were  opened 
at  Benha  and  Zagazig.  This  change  of  front  resulted  from  a 
number  of  considerations,  but  the  change  marks  an  epoch  in  the 
policy  of  our  ^fission,  whose  end  is  not  yet  in  sight,  but  whose 


94  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

ultimate  aim  is  to  definitely  reach  purely  ^NFohammedan  communi-- 
ties. 

During  this  period,  a  change  which  had  before  given  some 
signs  of  its  approach,  now  asserted  itself  more  clearly  in  the 
native  Church.  The  Protestant  Church  of  Egypt  gave  indications 
of  arriving  at  the  age  of  self-consciousness.  Having  developed 
from  two  organized  congregations  to  eleven,  and  then  to  nineteen, 
in  the  three  periods  we  have  considered,  it  grew  in  the  period  with 
which  we  are  dealing  to  thirty-three  organized  congregations. 
The  time  when  an  infant  Church  made  up  of  scattered  communi- 
ties and  widely  separated  pastors  "finds  itself,"  to  use  a  phrase  of 
Kipling,  is  a  time  of  great  importance.  It  marks  the  fulfillment 
of  missionary  hopes  and  prayers  and  efforts,  and  yet  it  marks  a 
time  of  special  anxiety  and  responsibility. 

Such  were  some  of  the  changes  which  marked  the  life  of  Egypt, 
the  life  of  our  Mission  and  the  life  of  the  native  Protestant  Church 
during  these  years  of  change  1885-1895. 

VI  and  VII.  Of  the  last  two  periods  little  need  be  said,  because 
their  records  lie  near  the  surface  of  the  memories  of  all  students- 
of  our  missionary  work.  The  years  of  1895-1900  may  be  desig- 
nated years  of  extensive  development  in  distinction,  from  the 
years  of  1900-1904  in  which  the  grozvth  has  seemed  intensive 
rather  than  extensive.  From  1895-1900,  seventeen  congrega- 
tions were  organized, — the  greatest  number  organized  in  any 
equal  period  and  the  living  Church  numbered  1825  more  members 
at  the  end  of  this  five  year  period  than  at  the  beginning. 

We  will  not  seek  to  describe  these  two  periods  at  greater 
length,  but  will  pass  to  a  few  comparisons  and  generalizations. 

CoNri'ARISOXS    AND    GENERALIZATIONS. 

I.  This  Scmi-Ccntcnnial  retrospect  oui^ht  to  excite  in  us  the 
deepest  i^ratitiidc  to  and  confidence  in  God.  I  cannot  see  how  any 
man  can  read  the  record  of  our  fifty  years  of  work  in  Egypt  and 
refuse  to  believe  in  a  Divine  Providence.  See  the  unmistakable 
Providence  which  led  to  the  choice  of  this  mission  field !  Mark 
the  Providence  going  before  our  missionaries  and  putting  on 
the  throne  of  I\gy])t  one  who  would  deal  more  gently  with  the 
infant  Church  than  another  would  have  done.  Note  the  strange 
influences,  backed  by  so  little  authority,  which  repeatedly  served 
to  move  the  hearts  of  powerful  enemies,  making  them  favor  the 
missionary  movement  or  relent  from  the  bitter  persecution  of  it. 


FIFTY   VFARS   OF    FORlvIC.X    MISSIONS    IX    KCVI'T.  95 

See  how  in  times  of  financial  distress,  God  raised  up  means  in  no 
inconsiderable  amounts  through  unexpected  friendships  or  ro- 
mances, such  as  that  of  the  Indian  Prince.  Mark  the  years  in 
which  pestilence  walking  in  darkness  carried  800  and  900  away 
as  b}'  a  flood  in  one  city  and  in  one  day ;  yet  it  did  not  come  nigh 
our  missionaries.  Watch  the  destruction  that  wasted  at  noon 
day,  as  in  the  days  of  Arabi,  but  not  one  of  our  missi:)naries  was 
touched,  ni  •:  v.as  their  property  destroyed.  The  man  who  can  read 
such  a  i\  :  rd  as  this  and  not  recognize  a  Divine  Providence  is 
hopelessly  blind. 

2.  Again  this  Scmi-Ccjitciiiiial  retrospect  ought  to  excite  in  iis 
a  nciv  and  living  faith  in  fJie  f'resence  and  pozcer  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Surely  it  was  the  height  of  folly  for  Christ  to  send  forth  a 
company  of  fishermen  to  conquer  the  world.  Surely  it  was 
ridiculous  for  the  fathers  of  fifty  years  ago  to  send  forth  a  couple 
of  missionaries  to  the  stronghold  of  Islam  and  the  home  of  a 
Fallen  Church.  Folly  ?  Ridiculous  ?  So  it  seemed  to  many, 
and  so  it  Avas,  but  for  the  FEoly  Spirit.  But  say,  "I  believe  in  the 
Holy  Spirit,"  and  the  ridiculousness  of  it  vanishes,  for  He  it  is 
vv'ho  can  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  and  unstop  the  ears  of  the  deaf, 
and  find  ITis  loving  way  into  the  hard  and  stony  heart.  I  read, 
in  periods  of  five  years,  the  half-century's  record  of  the  member- 
ship of  our  Egyptian  Church:  o — 4 — 69 — 180 — 596 — 985 — 1688 
— 2971 — 4554 — 6379 — 7324  ;.  and  then  I  remind  myself  of  the 
difficulties,  the  opposition,  the  hostile  faiths,  the  unworthy  instru- 
ments in  the  face  of  which  and  through  which  these  results  have 
been  gained,  and  I  again  say  with  the  deepest  conviction  of  my 
soul,  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit." 

3.  Again  in  flie  light  of  this  Senii-Ceiifennial  retrospect,  zve 
ouglit  to  haz'e  larger  faith  for  the  future.  I  say  it  soberl}-.  that  if 
the  coming  half-century  does  not  accomplish  immensely  more 
for  the  kingdom  of  God  than  the  past  half-century  has  accomp- 
lished, then  the  coming  half-century  must  be  reckoned  a  failure, 
for  we  do  not  stand  where  we  stood  fifty  years  ago.  Fifty  years 
ago.  we  had  but  three  missionaries;  to-day  we  have  65.  Fifty 
years  ago.  we  had  no  native  helpers ;  to-day  we  iiave  over  five 
hundred.  Fifty  years  ago,  we  had  no  congregations  to  act  as 
lighthouses  throughout  the  land :  to-day  we  have  fifty-three. 
Fiftv  vears  ago.  we  had  no  church  members  to  witness  to  the  truth 
and  give  momentum  to  message :   to-day  we   have   7324.     Fifty 


9H  FOKEIGX    MISflOXARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

years  ap),  \vc  liad  no  financial  resources,  save  those  which  came 
from  America :  to-day  the  native  Churcli  in  Egypt  gives  to  church 
work  no  less  than  one-fourth  as  much  as  the  Church  in  America 
appropriates  to  the  work  in  Egypt,  while  if  the  entire  expense  of 
missionarv  operations  is  considered,  it  will  be  found  that  for  every 
dollar  sent  to  Egypt  from  this  country,  92  cents,  are  secured  in 
Egv])t  itself  for  our  missionary  operations.  Fifty  years  ago,  we 
had  no  schools  and  had  no  opportunity  of  giving  the  gospel  to  the 
rising  generatiou  of  Egypt;  to-day  we  have  147  schools,  a  Chris- 
tian College  and  a  Theological  Seminary,  and  13.383  lives  are 
within  the  reach  of  the  Gospel  in  these  mission  schools.  Fifty 
vears  ago  an  Arabic  service  was  begun  and  for  several  years  the 
attendance  rarely  went  beyond  fifty;  to-day,  on  every  Sabbath 
dav.  an  average  of  14,512  persons  listen  to  the  preaching  of  a 
pure  gospel. 

\\ith  tlie  infinitely  larger  opportunities  which  we  possess  to-day 
for  accomplishing  the  evangelization  of  Egypt,  I  repeat  it  again, 
the  coming  half-century  of  foreign  missions  will  be  a  dismal  failure 
if  it  accomplishes  no  more  than  the  half-century  which  has  passed. 
"Remember  not  the  former  things"  (saith  the  Lord),  "neither  con- 
sider the  things  of  old.  Behold  I  will  do  a  new  thing ;  now  it  shall 
spring  forth  :  shall  ye  not  know  it?  I  will  even  make  a  way  in  the 
wilderness  and  rivers  in  the  desert."  God  grant  to  our  Church 
the  faith  to  claim  this  "new  thing"  for  the  half-century  which  is 
before  us. 

4.  /;;  the  light  of  the  Jialf-eeiitnry's  record  of  missionary  effort 
ill  Ii.L',ypt,  7i'e  oiii^ht  to  cxpcrieiice  deep  liumiliaiioii  at  our  oivn 
iiirwortliy  clforts,  and  to  lift  up  higher  standards  for  the  future. 
If  we  compare,  in  periods  of  five  years,  the  growth  of  the  work  in 
Egypt  with  the  growth  of  our  interest  in  that  work  as  gauged  by 
our  contributions,  wc  will  find,  in  every  period  save  one,  a  dispro- 
porti(jnate  increase — our  contributions  failing  to  keep  step  with 
the  growth  of  the  work  and  Church  in  Egypt.  Leaving  out  com- 
])arisons  during  the  first  ten  years,  as  these  might  seem  to  increase 
unduly  the  i)erccntage  of  the  growth  of  the  work,  we  find  that  on 
an  average  the  work  in  I\gypl  has  increased  each  five  years  60  per 
cent,  whereas  the  Church's  appropiations  have  increased  but  30 
l)er  einl.  (.n  an  average.  Surely  this  is  ground  for  humiliation 
that  we  have  responded  so  litt'e  to  tlie  standards  which  Giid's 
blessings  have  set  before  us. 

Again  look  at  our  past  efi'orts   from  the  point  of  view  of  the 


riFTY    YEARS    Ol'    I'ORKlON    MISSIONS    IN    ICC.YI'T.  97 

work  which  we  have  set  out  to  accomplish — the  evangelization 
of  Egypt.  Do  we  realize  how  little  has  yet  been  accomplished? 
We  speak  of  seven  thousand  church  members,  or  even  of  twenty- 
iive  thousand  of  a  Protestant  community.  That  is  just  i  in  400. 
Pack  thi.s  Church  to  the  doors  with  2000  uncvangclizcd  souls  and 
then  bring  in  five,  two  of  whom  are  church  members,  three  of 
whom  are  only  adherents,  and,  in  the  face  of  such  a  proportion, 
would  you  declare  the  work  of  missions  almost  complete?  Yet 
that  is  the  situation  in  Eg}pt  to-day. 

The  population  of  the  states  of  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  is  just  a 
million  short  of  that  of  Egypt  to-day,"  but  it  is  about  equal  to  that 
part  of  Egypt  which  may  be  regarded  as  constituting  our  mission 
field.  In  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  we  have  432  ordained  min- 
isters;  among  an  equal  population  in  Egypt,  we  have  just  47 
ordained  ministers  counting  both  foreign  and  native.  In  Ohio 
and  Pennsylvania  we  have  69,557  church  members,  and  there 
are,  in  this  territory,  a  fczv  ( ?)  other  evangelical  denominations 
besides  ourselves.  In  Egypt,  we  have  7324  church  members,  and 
the  only  other  evangelical  body  there  is  will  not  increase  that 
total  by  even  100  members.  But  the  picture  is  a  false  one.  To 
make  it  even  approximately  true,  you  must  go  through  this  vast 
population  of  these  two  noble  States,  and  you  must  tear  down 
your  Christian  schools,  destroy  your  hospitals,  burn  your  Bibles, 
blot  out  your  libraries,  you  must  rob  every  home  of  its  Christian 
home  life,  make  88  out  of  every  100  ignorant  of  the  alphabet, 
degrade  woman  to  a  position  of  slavery,  re-organize  your  political 
system  on  a  Mohammedan  basis,  make  Friday  a  legal  holiday  and 
ignore  the  Sabbath  entirely,  you  must  enter  within  men's  souls 
and  make  them  devoid  of  Christian  sentiment,  deprive  them  of 
Christian  ideals,  instill  thoughts  of  cruelty,  hate,  lust,  and  tyranny 
— and  then,  as  you  send  forth  your  47  preachers  and  scatter  from 
Philadelphia  to  Cincinnati  7324  church  members,  you  will  come 
nearer  realizing  the  spiritual  needs  of  Egypt  to-day. 

And  now,  lastly,  to  give  definiteness  to  our  purposes,  I  would 
enumerate  three  lines  along  which  immediate  assistance  is  imper- 
ative. 

I.  Prayer.  In  every  electric  wire  there  is  a  certain  resistance 
to  be  overcome,  which  is  proportionate  to  the  length  of  the  wire. 
So  every  great  movement  seems  to  have  a  tendency  to  lose  power 
as  it  advances.  There  comes  an  increase  of  organization  and  of 
machinery,  but  a  loss  of  power.     Whether  this  shall  be  the  ex- 


98  FOREIGN-   MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

perience  of  our  foreign  missionary  enterprise  during  the  next 
half-century  depends  on  just  one  thing,  and  that  is  the  amount 
of  spiritual  power  which  the  Church  will  insure  to  that  work 
through  prayer.  Coming  back  but  recently  from  this  very  mis- 
sion field,  I  would  testify  to  the  presence  there  to-day  of  channels 
for  spiritual  power  nnMed,  agencies  there  to-day  inoperatiTfe^ 
lives  there  to-day  unfruitful,  organizations  there  to-day  ineffective, 
—dead,  lifeless  machinery  waiting  to  be  vitalized  by  the  Spirit  of 
Life  in  answer  to  \our  prayers.  Would  God  that  we  might  lift 
new  standards  cf  prayer  fulness,  entering  into  fellowship  with 
Christ  through  daily,  earnest,  agonizing,  intelligent  prayer  for  the 
specific  needs  of  this  foreign  field. 

2.  Missionaries.  The  missionary  force  in  Egypt  is  inadequate. 
Wholly,  absolutely  inadequate  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  work 
assigned  to  it !  Eighteen  men  missionaries  and  fifteen  unmarried 
lady  missionaries  cannot  possibly  even  direct  the  evangelization  of 
nine  million  people.  A  quarter  of  a  million  of  men  is  too  large  a 
parish  for  any  one  man,  and  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  women  is 
an  equally  hopless  parish  for  any  one  woman.  The  thing  simply 
cannot  be  done.     More  missionaries  must  go. 

3.  Institutional  Equipment.  Here  appears  a  need  which  is 
peculiar  to  conditions  in  Egypt.  Missionary  work  in  Egypt  must 
always  include  a  certain  amount  of  institutional  work.  At  certain 
strategic  places,  Christian  institutions  must  be  planted.  These 
institutions  nuist  have  buildings,  suitable  and  permanent.  The 
policy  of  using  rented  buildings  has  long  ago  been  proven  to  be 
a  piece  of  near-sighted  extravagance.  The  policy  of  purchasing 
permanent  property  has  long  ago  been  shown  to  be  far  sighted 
economy.  By  the  lack  of  suitable  domiciles  for  these  institutions, 
missionary  work  is  hampered  and  hindered,  success  is  postponed, 
missionaries  become  discouraged,  the  fair  name  of  the  Church 
suffers  reproach.  The  needs  for  permanent  property  are  impera- 
tive at  Tanta,  Monsura,  and  Assiut,  but  especially  at  Alexandria 
and  Cairo. 

Such  arc  the  needs,  the  imperative  needs,  of  our  mission  field 
in  I'^gypt.    How  shall  these  needs  be  met? 

What  shall  lift  us  to  that  level  of  prayerfulness,  of  surrender  of 
life,  of  liberality,  needed  to  make  the  coming  half-century  one  of 
victory  and  success  commensurate  with  the  vantage  ground 
given  us  Iw  the  past?  It  is  Christ.  He  it  is  who  must  teach  us 
to  pray.     1  le  it  is  who  must  move  us  by  His  love  to  the  surrender 


FIFTY    YKARS    OF    FORFJCX    MISSIONS    IX    KOVI'T.  DSs*- 

of  life  and  of  possession.  And  He  can  do  this  and  He  will  do  this, 
if  we  will  only  open  unto  Him  the  door  and  let  Him,  the  King  of 
Glory  enter  in.  Living  in  us  here,  living  through  us  "unto  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,"  He,  and  He  alone,  can  acc(Miiplish'. 
this  work. 


WEDNESDAY   AFTERNOON. 

The   Reflex    Influence  of   Foneign   Missions  in  tfte   Life  of  the 
Home  Church:     Rev.  Alex.  Gilchrist,  D.D- 

Our  E&riy  Foreign  Missionary  Work:     Rev.  M.  Ci.  KyCe,  D.O. 

Our  Sudan   Mission:     Rev.  ,L  K.  (iiffeiu  DLD> 


THE  REFLEX  INFLUENCE  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  IN 
THE  LIFE  OF  THE  HOME  CHURCH. 

THE    REV.    ALEXANDER    GILCHRIST,    D.D. 

It  has  been  but  a  few  weeks  since  there  closed  in  the  city  of 
St.  Louis  the  most  wonderful  exhibit  of  the  products  of  human 
industry,  skill  and  wealth  the  world  has  ever  seen.  In  the  stu- 
pendous and  magnificent  structures  erected  for  that  purpose  were 
displayed  the  marvelous  achievements  of  the  people  of  this  land 
in  every  line  of  enterprise.  Every  citizen  of  the  L^nited  States 
took  a  deep  interest  in  the  World's  Fair  and  felt  a  just  pride  in 
the  remarkable  record  and  display  which  it  presented  of  the 
triumphs  of  wisdom  and  wealth.  The  occasion  was  more  than  a 
national  event.  It  was  really  world-wide  in  character.  The  con- 
dition, habits,  customs  and  enterprises  of  almost  every  people  on 
the  globe  were  strikingly  presented,  and  added  greatly  to  the 
impressiveness  and  significance  of  the  exhibit.  To  many  people 
the  ibreign  displays  w^ere  the  most  interesting  of  all.  When  the 
President  of  the  United  States  visited  the  Exposition,  it  was  stated 
that  he  manifested  a  peculiar  interest  in  the  people  and  products 
of  foreign  lands,  especially  in  our  new  possessions. 

It  is  eminently  fitting  that  we  gather  to-day  to  contemplate  the 
progress  and  achievements  bf  the  kingdom  that  is  not  of  this  world. 
We  shall  look,  not  merely  on  the  greatness  and  extent  of  material 
structures  and  the  mighty  achievements  of  earthly  enterprises,  but 
especially  upon  the  transcendent  beauty  of  the  building  not  made 
with  hands  and  the  grandeur  and  glory  of  the  victories  of  divine 
grace.  Here  again  the  deepest  interest  centers  in  the  people  of 
foreign  lands.  With  unspeakable  gratitude  and  joy  we  review 
the  struggles  and  triumphs  of  our  church  in  the  foreign  fields  of 
Egvpt,  India  and  the  Sudan  during  the  last  half  century.  We  may 
be  assured,  also,  that  Jesus  Christ,  our  divine  Sovereign,  as  He 
comes  with  us  into  this  spiritual  temple  and  looks  round  about 
upon  all  things,  regards  with  deepest  interest  what  has  been  ac- 
complished and  is  being  done  by  our  church  in  our  new  posses- 
sions, our  foreign  fields. 

Before  proceeding  to  discuss  the  subject  assigned  me,  I  may  be 
103 


104  FORKIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

permitted  to  brini^-  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  IMissions  to-day  the 
cordial  congratulations  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  upon  the 
success  of  their  work  during  the  fifty  years  that  are  now  passing 
in  review.  We  feel  that  our  work  is  one.  God  hath  joined  to- 
gether Foreign  IMissions  and  Home  Missions,  and  let  no  man 
put  them  asunder  in  thought,  sympathy  or  support.  We  rejoice 
with  you  in  all  the  successes  of  the  past  and  in  the  satisfaction 
and  joy  of  this  blessed  occasion.  As  you  have  had  in  the  past,  so 
shall  you  continue  to  have  our  hearty  sympathy  and  co-operation 
in  the  vast  and  important  work  committed  to  your  care. 

I  am  to  speak  of  the  reflex  influence  of  Foreign  Missions  upon 
the  life  of  the  church  at  home.  In  the  brief  time  allotted  to  this 
discussion  I  can  do  little  more  than  to  mention  a  few  things  sug- 
gested by  the  theme. 

I.     A  Truer  Conception  of  the  ]\Iission  of  Our  Church. 

In  the  divine  economy  everything,  both  for  the  individual  and 
the  church,  is  received  germinally.  There  is  first  the  implanting' 
of  the  seed,  then  growth,  development  and  maturity.  .  The  first 
conceptions  arc  nearly  always  limited  and  incomplete.  Only  in 
the  mind  of  Christ  has  the  ideal  of  His  kingdom  been  perfect  and 
complete.  The  church  has  always  been  slow  to  understand  Him 
and  catch  His  thought  and  purpose  in  reference  to  its  relation  to 
the  world  and  its  mission  in  the  world.  In  His  command  to  the 
Church,  there  is  in  reality  no  limit  to  the  scope  of  the  work  as- 
signed to  His  followers.  The  field  is  the  world.  There  was  to 
be  a  beginning,  but  not  an  ending,  at  home.  Our  Church,  like 
every  other  church,  has  always  believed  that  it  had  an  important 
mission,  but  its  thought  in  reference  thereto  has  not  always  been 
as  w^icle  as  the  thought  of  Christ.  The  .earlier  periods  of  our 
history  were  marked  by  intense  interest  in  formulating  and  estab- 
lishing the  great  doctrines  upon  which  rest  the  structure  and 
o])crati<ins  of  our  Church.  The  efifort  devoted  to  that  end  was 
by  no  means  misdirected.  Thus  were  laid  the  deep  and  strong 
foundations  u])nn  which  the  Church  securely  stands  amid  the 
stress  and  strain  of  conflict  with  error  and  all  the  forces  of  evil, 
r.ut  the  tendency  was  to  fix  attention  upon  conditions  and  needs 
near  at  home.  and.  in  some  measure  at  least,  to  unduly  emphasize 
the  (htt\  of  caring  for  itself  and  the  preservation  of  sound  doc- 
trine. 

(  )nr  foreign  mission  work  caused  an  awakening  to  the  con- 
sciousness and  conviction  that  we  had  a  wider  and  grander  mis- 
sion  than   was   i)ossible   in   the   home   field.      The   movement   into 


REFLEX  INFLUENCE  IN  LIl'E  oi*  KOME  tlHRCII.  105 

pai,\-\n  lands  was  the  call  of  Christ  to  lift  up  our  eyes  and  behold 
th'e  vast  and  whitened  fields  lying  far  beyond  the  limits  to  which 
our  view  had  heretofore  reached. 

It  is  related  that  in  colonial  days  government  sm-veyors  were 
directed  to  project  and  build  a  highway  from  lic^ston  as  far  west 
as  the  public  needs  would  require.  The  work  was  prosecuted  to 
a  point  in  the  wilderness  twelve  miles  west  of  Cambridge,  and 
stopped  there  because  it  was  thought  the  public  needs  would  not 
require  its  further  extension. 

As  we  now  contemplate  the  mighty  and  ra])i(l  movements  of 
populations  in  subsequent  years  over  the  Alleghenies  across  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  beyond  the  Rockies,  stopping  only  where  the 
billows  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  roar  defiance  to  further  progress,  we 
are  amazed  at  the  narrow  conception  of  the  public  needs  that  were 
held  by  our  colonial  ancestors.  Equally  surprising,  as  wt-  look 
backward  again,  is  the  evident  conception  at  one  time  entertained 
by  our  predecessors  of  the  extent  of  our  mission  as  a  church. 
But  we  have  bcgtui  to  realize  the  meaning  of  our  existence,  by 
the  reaction  upon  our  thought  and  life,  of  the  splendid  work 
accomplished  in  our  foreign  fields.  \\'e  have  thus  been  helped  to 
realize  that  the  highway  upon  which  Christ  shall  come  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  world  must  reach  to  the  uttermost  jjarts  of  the 
earth,  and  that  we  have  an  important  share  of  the  great  work 
of  preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord  in  the  wilderness  of  tlie  world's 
unbelief  and  sin. 

II.  Enlargement  of  the  Sympathy  and  Liberality  of  (  )ur 
Church. 

As  with  the  individual,  so  with  the  Church,  there  is  always 
danger  of  falling  into  the  condition  and  habit  of  selfishness.  'Hiere 
is  a  strong  centripetal  force  in  life  that  turns  thought  and  sym- 
pathy and  efifort  towards  itself.  If  unchecked  and  uncontrolled 
it  produces  the  self-regarding  life,  unlovely,  unfruitful  and  un- 
profitable. There  is  also  in  the  Christian  life  an  o])posite  force, 
the  centrifugal,  which  impels  the  spirit  outward  in  eyer-widening 
circles  of  sympathy  and  helpful  endeavor.  The  operation  of  this 
beneficent  power  leads  to  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  of  Christ,  kindly 
regard  for  the  welfare  of  others  and  seeking  to  lift  the  burdens 
from  their  hearts  and  lives.  That  is  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  it  is 
the  spirit  that  the  Church,  which  is  His  body,  should  cherish  and 
exercise.  It  is  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  true  Church.  Hut 
the  receiving  and  the  exercising  of  this  spirit  depends  ui)on  direct 
personal  knowledge  of  the  real  needs  of  our  fellow  men.    Througli 


10()  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILElv    CONVENTION. 

all  the  at;cs  the  ])ityinii-  c\e  of  ( idd  has  beheld  the  wretchedness 
of  the  heathen,  and  lie  has  } earned  for  their  deliverance  from  the 
thralldoni  of  sin.  I'.ut  it  is  only  in  recent  years  that  the  Church 
has  liad  a  real  and  direct  knowledge  of  the  condition  and  needs 
of  the  ])agan  world.  Coextensive  with  such  knowledge,  and  in 
pro])ortion  to  it,  has  been  the  sympathy  of  the  Church  with  that 
])art  of  the  race.  Through  our  foreign  missionaries  we  have 
heard  the  sighing  and  the  groaning  of  the  millions  of  earth's 
people  who  have  never  known  the  comfort  of  divine  love  and 
grace,  and  the  heart  of  the  Church  has  been  enlarged  toward  them. 
Perhaps  the  most  earnest  prayers  that  ascend  to  God  from  our 
family  altars,  from  our  pulpits  and  pra}"er  meetings  are  for  the 
benighted  heathen.  This  interest  has  been  quickened  and  de- 
veloped very  largely  by  the  reactionary  influence  of  the  work  of 
our  Church  in  its  foreign  fields.  Another  marked  result  is  the 
drawing  of  our  Church  into  closer  fellowship  with  other  Christian 
denominations.  If  ever  there  was  any  spirit  of  rivalry  with  other 
churches,  it  is  fast  disappearing,  and  in  its  stead  we  observe  a 
disposition  to  co-o]jerate  heartily  with  all  who  are  striving  to 
si)read  the  (]osik'1  in  all  lands. 

Jn  the  same  way  and  from  the  same  cause  has  the  grace  of 
Christian  liberality  been  enlarged  in  the  home  Church.  Other 
influences  have  been  working  to  increase  the  ofiferings  of  our 
people  to  the  supi)oi-t  and  extension  of  the  work  of  our  Church, 
but  the  very  noticeable  enlargement  of  such  gifts  during  the  past 
fifty  years  is  undoubtedly  in  great  measure  due  to  the  reflex 
influence  of  our  foreign  mission  work.  The  vast  and  urgent  need 
of  our  foreign  fields,  that  has  been  ])riiught  into  view  by  our 
fellow-workers  there,  has  not  only  broadened  and  deepened  our 
sympathies  for  the  n.illions  that  are  living' and  dying  in  spiritual 
■darkness,  but  more  and  more  it  is  ha\ing  the  effect  of  constrain- 
ing God's  i)eo])le  to  gi\-e  more  li])erall\  of  their  means  for  the 
•enligblenment  and  salvation  of  those  perishing  multitudes. 

Ml.      .Sire-ngthened   I'ailli  in  ihe   Power  of  the  Gos])el. 

That  the  Gos])el  is  the  jM.wer  of  (  lod  unto  salvation  we  have 
always  believed  without  (|ur>tion,  and  we  have  counted  upon  its 
success  in  om-  own  land  and  in  other  lauds  when  conditions 
seemed  to  be  favoral)U'.  There  has  always  been  also  in  the  mind 
of  the  Church  a  boi)e  and  e\p<.'ctation  that  some  time  in  the  far 
distant  future  the  world  will  be  brought  under  the  sway  of  the 
Gosi)el.  P.ut  the  actual  demonstration  of  its  mighty  power  in  its 
signal  vielories  in  heatlu-n  lands  has  strengthened  the  confidence 


KKn.Kx  ixn.uKxcE  in  life  of  homf  church.  107 

of  the  C"hurch  in  its  al)ility  to  triumph  splendidly  over  every 
obstacle  in  any  field  where  it  is  given  a  fair  chance  to  reach  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  men.  It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of 
more  unfavorable  conditions  for  its  success  than  those  existing 
in  our  chosen  and  assigned  fields,  in  Egypt  and  India,  when  our 
missionaries  first  entered  those  pagan  lands  to  begin  their  work. 
Facing  the  formidable  power  of  false  and  degrading  religions 
entrenched  in  the  strongholds  of  the  centuries,  the  ignorance  and 
idolatry,  the  debasing  habits  and  awful  vices  and  the  people 
wholl}-  given  to  delusion  and  sin,  their  only  reliance  was  the 
simple  Gospel  of  Christ.  It  is  not  much  wonder  that  some  ques- 
tioned the  wisdom  of  such  an  undertaking  and  cherished  doubts 
and  fears  of  its  success.  But  the  Gospel  has  triumphed  even 
there.  It  has  had  fifty  years  of  glorious  success.  The  handful 
of  corn  scattered  along  the  Valley  of  the  Nile  and  in  the  Punjab 
now  waves  like  the  forest  of  Lebanon.  Nothing  else  is  so  well 
.calculated  to  strengthen  the  confidence  of  the  Church  in  the 
efficacy  of  the  divine  Word  to  change  the  heart  and  transform 
the  life  of  man.  If  we  had  no  other  evidence  than  what  is  pre- 
sented to-day  in  the  review  of  our  foreign  mission  work,  we 
could  not  doubt  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  enlighten  and  save 
the  most  ignorant  and  debased,  to  lift  up  and  sanctify  those  who 
have  fallen  to  the  lowest  depths  of  sin  and  shame.  Thus  assured 
and  encouraged,  we  shall  move  forward  wath  more  courage  and 
confidence  to  the  great  work  that  remains  to  be  accomplished  by 
our  Church. 

1\  .  Greater  Activity  in  Evangelistic  Work  at  Home  and 
Abroad. 

It  would  be  unreasonable  to  claim  that  everything  gratifying 
and  good  in  the  life  and  work  of  the  Church  at  home  is  the 
result  of  the  reflex  influence  of  our  foreign  missions.  It  would 
be  ecjually  unreasonable  to  refer  all  the  excellencies  and  success 
of  our  foreign  work  to  the  influence  and  effort  of  the  home 
church.  The  wonderful  interchange  and  reaction  of  forces  bind 
both  together  in  a  common  life  and  common  work.  Each  has 
received,  and  will  continue  to  receive,  from  the  other  great  help 
and  encouragement.  It  would  not  be  proper  here  to  speak  of  the 
indebtedness  of  foreign  missions  to  the  Church  at  home. 

This  discission  would  certainly  require  mention  of  the  stimu- 
lating efifect  of  our  foreign  missions  upon  the  entire  evangelistic 
work  of  our  Church.  It  is  to  cur  credit  that  we  are  known,  and 
always  have  l)cen  recognized,  as  a  positively  evangelical  church. 


108  I-ORttiGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

The  acccjitcd  doctrines  of  the  evangelical  faith  have  been  firmly 
held  and  faithfully  taught.  But  there  is  vastly  more  for  the 
Church  to  do  than  to  hold  fast  that  which  is  good.  There  is  the 
all-important  and  divinely  appointed  work  of  giving  the  Gospel 
to  those  who  arc  without  a  knowledge  of  it.  To  this  work  our 
Church  is  more  and  more  turning  its  thought  and  devoting  its 
effort.  It  is  coming  to  be  known  as  a  thoroughly  evangelistic 
church.  Marked  progress  has  been  made  in  this  respect  in  the 
last  fifty  years.  Increasing  enterprise  has  been  shown  in  planting 
churches  in  destitute  fields  and  in  giving  the  Gospel  to  the  un- 
evangelizcd  in  this  country.  A  deeper  and  stronger  desire  has 
been  manifested  in  the  work  of  evangelizing  heathen  lands.  It 
was  an  evangelistic  impulse  of  the  home  Church  that  prompted 
the  first  effort  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  distant  lands  of  pagan- 
ism, but  that  effort  itself  kindled  in  the  heart  of  the  Church  the 
spark  of  missionary  interest  which  has  slowly  but  steadily  de- 
veloped into  a  flame  of  evangelistic  zeal  as  the  work  in  our  foreign 
fields  has  gone  forward  with  increasing  power  and  success.  Every 
advance  has  inspired  the  Church  at  home  with  a  deeper  interest 
in  the  stupendous  work  of  world  evangelization.  Each  success 
has  created  new  enthusiasm  and  strengthened  the  determination 
of  our  Church  to  put  forth  more  heroic  effort  to  splendidly  ac- 
complish its  full  share  of  the  work  of  bringing  the  whole  world 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Largely  through 
the  reactionary  influence  of  our  foreign  work  the  missionary 
motive  has  been  firmly  fixed  among  the  vital  thoughts  of  our 
Church.  That  motive  is  rapidly  becoming  more  persuasi\e  and 
powerful  in  the  life  and  activities  of  the  Church  and  is  impelling 
it  to  higher  endeavor  and  greater  sacrifice  to  make  Christianity 
the  religion  of  the  world. 


OUR  EARLY  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  WORK. 

THE    REV.    M.    G.    KYLE,    D.    D. 

Our  Lord  sent  out  the  Seventy,  "two  and  two,  before  His  face, 
into  every  city  and  place,  whither  He  himself  would  come" — and 
with  these  instructions  for  their  journey  and  work :  "The  harvest 
truly  is  great,  but  the  laborers  are  few." — "Into  whatsoever  city  ye 
enter  and  they  receive  you,  eat  such  things  as  are  set  before  you; 
and  heal  the  sick  that  are  therein,  and  say  unto  them :  The  King- 
dom of  God  is  come  nigh  unto  you.  But  into  whatsoever  city  ye 
enter,  and  they  receive  you  not,  go  your  ways  out  into  the  streets 
of  the  same  and  say  even  the  very  dust  of  your  city  which 
cleaveth  on  us,  we  do  wipe  off  against  you."  The  harvest  truly 
was  great  but  the  laborers  were  few.  They  were  to  seek  open 
doors  and  were  to  pass  by  the  doors  that  were  closed. 

Our  own  Church  sent  out  her  seventy  beginning  very  early  in 
her  hi*story ;  and  was  not  unmindful  of  the  instruction  of  her 
Divine  Master  that  was  still  for  the  guidance  of  his  messengers 
that  went  before  His  face,  That  the  harvest  truly  is  great  but  the 
laborers  are  few,  therefore  seek  open  doors  and  pass  by  doors  that 
are  closed  against  you. 

Away  back  as  early  as  1834  the  Associate  Reformed  Church, 
acknowledging  the  weight  of  responsibility  for  missionary  effort 
in  the  world,  decided  to  begin  labor  in  India,  and  appointed  Rev. 
Joseph  McEwan  and  sent  him  out  to  that  field  where  he  began 
labor  at  xAllahabad.  But  ill  health  compelled  him  to  return  to  this 
country  and  the  work  was  abandoned  as  early  as  1838.  Again  in 
1842  the  Associate  branch  of  our  ancestry,  also  feeling  the  im- 
pulse of  those  words  of  the  Master  to  bear  the  Gospel  to  all  the 
world,  cast  their  eyes  on  the  Southland  and  sent  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Banks  to  explore  in  the  tropical  island  of  Trinidad  on  the  coast 
of  South  America,  He  returned  from  that  exploring  expedition 
and  in  the  following  year  Synod  decided  to  begin  work  in  that 
place  and  sent  out  the  Rev.  Joseph  Banks  and  his  wife  and  the 
Rev.  David  Gordon  and  his  wife  and  niece,  Miss  Beveridge,  to 
oeg'm  work.    A  little  later  Mr.  George  Kerr  was  sent  to  join  them, 

109 


110  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

an<l  still  others  were  added  from  year  to  year  from  this  country 
and  the  old  country. 

But  the  missionary  zeal  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  was 
•■  ■{  1  urued  out.  It  flamed  up  again  and  with  renewed  vigor  in 
1844,  when  the  general  Synod  resolved  to  hegin  work  at  that 
fountain  head  of  Moselem  fanaticism,  the  oldest  city  in  the  worlds 
Damascus.  Accordingly  they  sent  into  Syria  to  establish  their 
work'  in  that  city  the  Rev,  James  Barnett  and  J.  G.  Paulding  and 
from  year  to  year  and  at  intervals  of  years  other  missionaries  were 
added  who  were  afterwards  one  after  another  removed  to  our  field 
in  Egypt,  until  at  last  in  1857  the  Rev.  John  Crawford,  of  the 
Presbytery,  now  called  the  United  Presbyterian  Presbytery  of 
Argyle,  in  New  York,  was  sent  out ;  he  who  was  to  abide  with 
that  mission  until  the  present  day. 

I'hese  were  the  earliest  missionary  efforts  at  exploration.  In 
addition,  now,  to  the  great  missions  in  India  and  Egypt  by  the 
Associate  and  the  Associate  Reformed  Churches,  respectively, 
that  made  uj)  the  Cnited  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Cnited  Church, 
when  the  union  had  been  consummated,  decided  to  begin  some  new 
work.  Xew  enthusiasm  is  very  apt  to  seek  a  new  channel,  and  so 
they  decided,  as  a  token  of  gratitude  unto  God  for  the  happy  union 
then  consummated,  and  as  a  pledge  of  a  renewed  consecration  to 
the  Master's  cause,  that  they  would  establish  missions  in  Africa 
and  in  China.  No  one  was  found  to  go  to  Africa  and  so  that 
which  was  contemplated  in  that  day  for  the  heart  of  the  dark 
continent  rested  for  almost  fifty  years  until  we  began  our  work  in 
the  .Sudan.  The  Rev.  J.  C.  Xevin  was  chosen  to  go  out  to  China 
and  he  and  his  wife  sailed  to  that  distant  land  of  the  "Celestial 
Kingdom"  and  established  their  hea<l([uai-ters  at  Canton  in  those 
very  early  days  of  Chinese  missions. 

And  still  again  in  1862  the  American  and  Eoreign  Christian 
l^nion  a.sked  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  to  furnish  a  mis- 
sionary to  go  out  and  work  in  their  new  missions  in  papal  coun- 
tries, i)articularl)'  on  the  continent  of  Europe  and  more  particularly 
in  the  land  of  Italy.  Our  Gen.eral  Assembly  considered  the  propo- 
sition and  decided  to  accede  to  the  request  and  elected  a  young 
man  just  coming  out  of  the  seminary  at  that  time,  by  the  name 
of  William  G.  Morchead — our  own  Dr.  Morehead.  lie  went  to 
sunny  Italy  and  labored  at  the  city  of  Florence  and  at  the  little 
port  of  Lougone  on  the  Island  of  Elba. 

Thus  very  briefly  I  mention  by  name  the  begiiuiings  of  our 
early  foreign  missionary  work,  our  Seventy  who  went  out  to  ex- 


OUR  K.\Ry,V  FORKIC.X  .M1SSI()\.\K^•  WORK.  Ill 

plore  before  His  face  the  way  lie  wmild  come.  These  were  the 
early  foreign  missionary  efforts  of  uuv  Church,  that  ceased,  as  well 
as  began,  very  early.  W'e  have  glanced  at  the  explorations  made 
in  these  fields  to  find  open  doors.  Let  ns  turn  now  for  a  moment 
to  another  great  movement  in  the  early  history  of  our  missionary 
work,  the  concentration  of  effort,  and  tlie  conditions  which  led 
up  to  it. 

Of  one  place  it  was  said  even  of  our  Lord  that  he  could  not  there 
do  many  mighty  works  because  of  their  unlielief.  ,\nd  of  the  great 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles  in  the  day  when  he  was  at  the  very  pinnacle 
of  attaininent  of  his  apostolic  ambition  to  preach  the  Gospel  at 
Rome,  when  he  was  there  in  person  to  j^lant  the  Church,  when 
assistance  was  so  much  needed,  when  he  himself  was  bound  by  a 
cham  to  a  Roman  soldier  day  and  night,  it  is  said  that  he  sent 
away  the  sick  missionary  Epaphroditus  and  tenderly  commended 
him  to  the  care  of  the  home  friends.  These  were  New  Testament 
methods  and  in  like  manner  our  own  Church  was  directed  by 
the  Providence  of  God  in  the  concentration  of  her  foreign  mis- 
sionary effort.  In  the  Island  of  Trinidad  the  severity  of  the 
climate,  together  with  ill  health,  doomed  to  death  nearly  every 
missionary  the  Church  ever  s-Mit :  and  so  in  1867  the  field  was 
abandoned  and  the  work  given  over  to  the  churches  of  the  Lower 
Provinces,  now  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Canada. 

And  down  in  sunn}-  Italy,  the  Italv  of  Paul  and  Epa])hroditus, 
sickness  overtook  our  devoted  missionary  and  in  still  severer 
measure  his  family,  and  that  worker  was  taken  back  to  the 
homeland  for  recuperation,  with  the  hope,  however,  of  returning 
to  Italy ;  a  hope  that  has  scarcely  yet  died  out  of  his  heart.  But 
only  a  year  or  so  later  the  American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union 
dissolved  and  its  work  under  that  management  came  to  an  end. 

Thus  the  work  of  concentration  was  going  on.  Doors  were 
being  closed  and  the  Seventy  passing  on.  In  China  and  in  Syria 
influences  at  work  were  more  terrific.  In  C^hina  our  missionaries 
encountered  an  unbelief  so  stubborn  and  inveterate  and  hard  that 
scarcely  any  progress  was  made. 

The  Chinese  wall  of  superstition  anfl  idolatry,  and  all  the 
vicious  moral  system  that  clings  to  it,  was  not  yet  beginning  to  be 
broken  down.  It  was  in  the  first  days  of  Chinese  missions  with 
all  the  loneliness  and  hardship  and  disappointment  and  rejection 
which  that  means.  And  in  Syria  the  fires  of  unbelief  and  opposi- 
tion burned  still  more  fiercely.  In  i860  ^loslem  fanaticism  broke 
out  and  swept  over  not  only  Damascus  but  all  that  Syrian  land 


112  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE)    CONVI^NTION. 

and  threatened  to  doom  to  extinction  all  missionary  effort  there. 
Missionaries  were  driven  out  of  the  country  or  killed.  Christians 
were  massacred  in  cold  blood.  Until  at  last  it  seemed,  as  it  had 
seemed  to  the  old  prophet  in  the  days  of  Ahab,  there  were  none 
left.  And  so  our  Church,  removing  part  of  her  missionaries  to 
Egypt  and  giving  the  choice  unto  others  to  come  to  Egypt  or  to 
remain  in  Damascus,  abandoned  the  work  at  that  place  and  left  it 
to  the'  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ireland.  Mr.  Crawford,  now  the 
Rev.  Dr.  John  Crawford,  elected  to  remain  with  the  Irish  Pres- 
byterian Church  and  abide  with  the  work  at  Damascus  and  there 
lie  has  continued  a  lifetime ;  and  only  within  a  very  short  time, 
after  a  service  of  forty-six  years,  he  has  retired  in  his  old  age  to 
the  city  of  J  Beirut  where  his  son  and  daughter  reside,  there  to 
spend  the  last  days  that  remain  to  him  on  earth  with  this  prayer — 
as  Airs.  CVawford  wrote  to  me,  he  himself  not  being  able  to  write 
— that  when  the  Master  summons  him  home  his  ashes  shall  rest  in 
that  old  citv  of  Damascus. 

And  the  work  in  China  also  in  the  same  year,  1857,  when  the 
Assembly  decided  to  concentrate  her  efforts  upon  the  two  great 
fields  of  Egypt  and  India,  was  abandoned  and  the  missionary  was 
brought  to  labor  upon  the  Pacific  coast,  where  he  still  remains  in 
his  old  age  and  infirmity. 

What  shall  we  say  of  these  early  foreign  missionaries  and  their 
efforts?  What  estimate  shall  we  give  of  their  work?  Were  those 
retreats  defeats]^  Are  those  missions  only  a  thing  of  the  past? 
IIa\e  they  no  part  in  the  rejoicing  here  to-day?  It  has  been  face- 
tiously remarked  by  more  than  one  that  this  subject  was  assigned 
to  me  l)ecause  I  am  an  archaeologist  and  know  about  mummies. 
Is  that  true?  Is  the  intimation  of  that  jest  the  best  that  can  be 
said  for  those  earh'  f  »reign  missionary  efforts,  those  lives  laid 
<lown.  those  years  of  loneliness  and  of  weariness  and  toil?'  Art. 
they  only  anti(|uities  to  be  labeled  and  to  be  put  on  the  shelf  in  the 
museum  upstairs?  \ery  far  from  it.  If  any  of  you  came  here 
with  the  thought  that  such  was  our  early  foreign  missionary  work 
I  wish  to  correct  your  conception,  and  set  that  work  in  its  true 
lijyipiil.  If  I  shall  have  done  that  1  shall  have  served  the  purpose  of 
this  address  today.  Their  work  was  not  lost.  They  have  a  part 
in  the  rejoicing  of  to-day.  livery  great  general  sends  out,  here  and 
there,  lo  the  right  and  to  the  left  and  in  front,  the  reconnaissance 
in  force  whose  instructions  are  to  press  forward  if  the  way  be 
open,  and  to  come  back  if  a  better  way  of  advance  be  found.  And 
in  any  ease  the  ])urpuse  of  liie  rcx-onnaissance,  is  to  find  out  the 


OUR  Karlv  foreign  missionary  work.  113 

1*est  way  to  advance  to  victory,  the  open  road,  or  as  the  Master  told 
his  disciples,  the  open  door.  Now  do  those  poor  fellows  who  lay 
down  their  lives  in  the  reconnaissance  waste  their  efforts?  Have 
they  no  part  in  the  final  victory?  Is  their  retreat  a  defeat?  Far 
from  it.  The  reconnaissance  in  force  is  high  strategy,  the  soldier 
that  lays  down  his  life  there  lays  it  down  for  the  victory,  and  no 
one  has  a  greater  part  in  the  final  victory  than  the  man  who  helps 
to  find  out  the  way  that  is  open  to  victory. 

I  stood  a  few  months  ago  at  the  Lionmonnd  near  the  center 
of  the  field  of  Waterloo,  and  over  there  out  of  sight  a  little  dis- 
tance was  the  field  of  Quatre-bras  where  only  a  few  days  before 
the  battle  of  Waterloo,  a  detachment  of  Napoleon's  army  under 
Marshall  Ney  had  been  sent  against  Wellington  and  had  been  met 
by  him  and  crushed.  And  yet  Wellington  retreated.  A  less  saga- 
cious general  would  have  pressed  forward,  but  Wellington  retired 
to  this  field  of  Waterloo  because  it  was  the  open  way  to  final  vic- 
tory over  the  arch  disturber  of  the  world's  peace.  Were  the  lives 
of  those  English  who  died  at  Quatre-bras  thrown  away  because 
their  leader  retired  after  the  victory?  By  no  means.  The  begin- 
ning of  the  end  of  the  victory  at  Waterloo  that  determined  the 
modern  civilization  of  the  world  was  in  the  retreat  from  Quatre- 
bras.  ^The  advancement  there  had  been  the  reconnaissance  in  force 
that  found  out  the  best  way  to  advance  toward  victory.  Were 
the  heroic  efforts  of  a  Banks,  of  a  Crawford,  of  a  Nevin,  of  a 
Morehead,  wasted?  Were  the  lives  laid  down  under  a  tropical 
sun  or  given  up  to  the  fiercer  fire  of  Moslem  fanaticism,  thrown 
away?  Were  all  these  retreats  defeats?  Far  from  it.  These 
movements  were  the  reconnaissance  in  force  of  the  Master's  army, 
and  these  retreats  were  the  master-stroke  of  Providence  of  our 
Divine  Lord  whereby  the  Church's  forces  were  turned  into  the 
best  way  that  led  forward  to  the  grand  victory  and  the  triumph 
and  the  rejoicing  of  this  day.  The  trials  of  a  tropical  sun,  the 
fierce  fires  of  Moslem  fanaticism,  the  ostracism  of  papal  supersti- 
tion and  the  danger  and  isolation  of  missions  in  China  in  the  early 
days  were  not  wasted.  The  tears  of  these  brethren  are  in  the 
divine  bottle  with  the  rest  and  they  as  good  soldiers  await  their 
crown  with  a  Gordon,  and  a  Hogg  and  a  Lansing.  There  is 
something  better  to  be  than  to  be  fifty  years  old ;  it  is  to  be  the 
good  and  faithful  servant. 


OUR  SUDAN  MISSION.. 

TIIR    REV.    J.    K.    GIFFEN,    D.D„ 

Christian  Friends: 

I  could  not  help  but  wonder  how  deep  was  the  feeling-  of  Dr. 
McCague  this  afternoon,  when  he  thought  of  the  years  compassed 
about  with  the  blessing  of  God,  and  what  would  be  his  thought 
concerning  this,  the  grandchild,  for  the  grandparent's  love  and 
affection  is  perhaps  deeper  and  more  tender  than  that  of  the 
parent.  But  I  come  this  afternoon  with  a  parent's  love,  and  if  that 
love  be  sometimes  extravagant  you  will  forgive  me.  I  recognize 
this  afternoon  as  I  come  before  you  that  I  meet  here  many  who 
have  listened  to  me  at  different  times  and  in  different  places,  as  I 
have  attempted  to  tell  you  of  the  Sudan.  I  have  no  apology  to 
make  to  these,  but  I  ask  their  indulgence.  I  have  but  one  message. 
I  could  not  be  true  to  myself,  I  could  not  be  true  to  my  Master, 
I  could  not  be  true  to  the  poor  Sudanese,  I  could  not  be  true  to 
you,  if  I  came  with  any  other  message.  I  come  to  speak  for  a 
people  "meted  out  and  trodden  down,"  a  people  that  in  history  has 
been  represented  as  to  their  condition  "terrible  from  their  begin- 
ning onward,"  a  people  that  God  spoke  of  as  in  His  great  mind 
long,  long  before  this  United  Presbyterian  Church  even  had  a 
birth.  I  wish  to  come  to  you  this  afternoon  with  my  message  so 
sim])le  that  you  will  forget  all  else  in  your  thought  of  these  poor 
people. 

And  now  I  hold  that  there  is  not  one  here  this  afternoon  but 
believes  in  the  Providence  of  God.  You  cannot  look  back  over 
the  history  of  our  mission  work  in  India  and  in  Egypt  without 
believing  that  God,  at  every  step  of  the  way,  cared  for  each 
servant  as  he  went  worth,  blessed  every  effort  that  was  made, 
inclined  his  ear  to  ever)-  prayer  that  was  offered,  until  we  have  the 
thousands  that  have  been  reached  in  India  and  in  Egypt  to-day. 
This  is  God's  approval,  and  we  look  back  over  it  as  such.  And 
then,  when  we  look  forward  to  the  next  half  century,  we  feel  that 
in  this  one  thing  God  has  blessed  us,  and  lie  will  bless  us,  and 
He  will  do  iiiit^hficr  Illinois  for  us  in  the  future  than  He  ever  did 
in  the  past. 

114 


OUR  SUDAN   MISSION.  1  1 -> 

We  of  the  Sudan  have  no  i)art  in  that  history.  We  have  no 
history,  but  just  as  much  are  we  in  God's  thoughts,  just  as  much 
are  tliese  poor  people,  of  whom  I  wish  to  speak  this  afternoon,  in 
the  Ahnighty's  care ;  and  events  have  come  to  pass  that  point,  as 
with  the  finger  of  God.  to  the  result  that  nnist  come  before  we 
meet  at  the  great  centennial  of  our  missions. 

Now  for  the  Sudan.  That  is  the  country  of  the  black  people, 
for  that  is  wdiat  the  word  means — the  Sudan.  The  term  is  applied 
to  a  country  that  is  very  indefinite  in  extent,  but  as  I  use  it  this 
afternoon  I  will  mean  the  Egyptian  Sudan,  the  country  that  ex- 
tends along  the  Nile  valley  from  twenty-two  degrees  north  lati- 
tude to  about  four  or  five  degrees  north  latitude,  including  all  the 
great  Nile  Basin — a  country  that  has  been  shut  out  from  the 
influences  of  civilization  by  a  great  desert  and  by  the  rajiids  and 
cataracts  of  its  river  until  very  recently.  Now  let  us  review  a  little 
bit  of  history. 

This  great  country  was  first  opened  to  the  influences  of  the  out- 
side civilized  world  in  1881.  Twenty-three  years  ago,  when  we 
first  looked  into  the  Nile  valley,  we  found  Egypt  in  a  state  of 
rebellion.  The  whole  country  was  in  the  hands  of  the  military, 
and  the  military  was  in  the  hands  of  a  poor,  ignorant  soldier, 
Arasbi  Pasha.  Now,  England  and  France  had  certain  financial 
interests  in  Egypt,  and  they  allied  their  forces  that  they  might 
suppress  this  rebellion.  But  for  some  reason,  a  reason  that  has 
never  been  clearly  revealed  in  history,  at  the  very  last  moment, 
when  the  ultimatum  had  been  given,  France  withdrew  her  war- 
ships and  left  England  alone  to  suppress  that  rebellion.  You  all 
know  the  history.  She  did  suppress  the  rebellion,  and  we  have  to 
thank  God  to-day  that  in  the  Nile  valley  we  have  the  British 
influence,  and  that  all  the  way  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the 
Equator  we  have  to  deal,  in  our  mission  work,  not  with  a  Catholic 
power,  but  with  a  Protestant  power.  And  let  me  say  here,  my 
friends — though  I  believe  I  am  as  loyal  as  any  of  you,  for  there  is 
nothing  that  so  thrills  my  heart  as  the  beautiful  Stars  and  Stripes, 
the  grandest  flag  that  floats  anywhere,  and  especially  when  you 
see  it  in  a  foreign  land — I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  other 
power  so  fitted  to  do  the  work  that  the  British  government  has 
done  in  the  Nile  valley;  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  other 
power  on  the  face  of  the  earth  which  establishes,  wherever  it  goes, 
justice  and  liberty  to  the  same  degree.  I  believe  that  God  led  the 
British  government  into  the  Nile  valley.  It  was  a  part  of  that 
great  Providence,  a  preparation  for  the  great  work  that  we  were 
set  seriouslv  to  do. 


116  FORIJIGN    MISSIOXARV    JUBILI^;^;    CONVENTION. 

Now,  Egypt  was  necessary  to  England,  because  Egypt  con- 
trolled England's  highway  to  India— the  Suez  Canal.  But  just 
as  Egypt  was  necessary  for  England,  so  the  Sudan  was  necessary 
to  Egypt,  because  the  Sudan  controlled  Egypt's  great  river,  in 
which  the  life  of  that  country  is  wrapped  up. 

In  1 88 1,  almost  simultaneously  with  the  rebellion  down  in 
Egypt,  away  up  yonder,  fifteen  hundred  miles  or  more  inland, 
there  arose  a  poor,  ignorant  Arab.  He  knew  but  little  of  the 
world  outside  of  his  very  small  circle.  Ignorant,  superstitious, 
prejudiced,  but  he  had  in  him  the  fire  and  zeal  of  a  bigot.  And 
this  one  consecrated  life  gathered  to  him  all  the  hosts  of  the 
Sudan  and  so  he  came  on  to  victory.  His  one  great  thought  was, 
"Let  us  forever  sweep  the  infidel  from  the  face  of  the  earth." 
Little  did  he  know  what  that  meant;  little  did  he  know  of  the 
world  outside  of  the  Sudan,  outside  of  a  very  small  circle  of  the 
Sudan.  But  this  thought  fired  his  soul,  because,  as  he  felt,  their 
prophet  had  been  insulted ;  their  holy  sacred  book,  the  Koran,  had 
been  defiled,  and  their  religion  had  been  despised  by  the  "infidel." 
And  away  yonder  in  the  southwestern  provinces  of  the  Sudan  he 
began  his  work. 

Now,  England,  having  come  into  possession  of  Egypt,  or  with 
a  protectorate  over  it,  had  to  suppress  that  rebellion.  She  sent  an 
army  of  eleven  thousand  men  there.  Up  the  Nile,  across  the 
desert,  into  Kordofan  they  went,  and  they  met  their  enemy  one 
horn-  out  from  the  capital  of  the  province,  Obeid,  but  in  one  short 
hour  the  eleven  thousand  men  were  annihilated — scarcely  one 
returned  to  tell  the  talc.  And  the  prestige  of  this  man  rose  im- 
mensely, and  he  took  to  himself  the  name  of  "El  Mahdi  El 
Muntazer,"  the  expected  leader.  And  on  he  came  toward  Khar- 
tum. 

in  the  meantime,  England  had  sent  one  of  her  noblest  men 
there,  a  noble  Christian  soldier — a  Christian  first  of  all  and  above 
all.  and  incidentally  a  soldier — Chinese  Gordon,  or  General  Gor- 
don, or  by  whatever  name  you  may  know  him. 

King  John  came  down  over  the  mountains  from  Abyssinia 
with  a  great  army  to  intercept  the  march  of  the  Mahdi  as  he  came 
on,  gathering  force  wherever  he  w^cnt,  and  wherever  he  went 
leaving  devastation  behind  him.  But  King  John  was  slain  in 
battle,  his  army  was  slain  and  eighty  thousand  prisoners  were 
carried  away  at  one  time  down  to  Khartum.  And  on  they  came 
down  to  the  great  capital,  Khartum,  where  the  great  soldier  was, 
and  laid  siege  to  it.     Now,  Gordon   was  there.     He  might  have 


OUR  SUDAN  MISSION.  117 

come  away.  England  plead  with  him  to  come  away.  All  Chris- 
tendom expected  that  he  would  come  away  and  save  his  life.  And 
he  might  have  done  it  but  for  one  thing.  General  Gordon  felt 
that  to  save  his  life  would  be  to  lose  it,  and  to  lose  his  life  would 
be  to  save  it  eternally.  He  had  given  his  pledge,  though  it  was 
to  a  despised  people,  and  there  were  hundreds  of  these  poor  people 
with  him  within  the  city  walls  that  looked  to  Gordon  almost  as  a 
God.  He  could  not  leave  them  ;  he  could  not  violate  his  pledge 
to  them  and  to  others,  and,  as  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  send 
them  to  a  place  of  safety,  he  elected  to  shed  his  blood  for  them. 

And  now,  my  friends,  I  surely  believe  that  the  life  of  Gordon 
and  the  death  of  Gordon  as  a  martyr  was  the  redemption  of  the 
Sudan.  It  was  done  in  power.  "I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  me,"  and  He  was  lifted  up  in  the  life  of  Gordon,  in  the 
death  of  Gordon,  and  for  eighteen  years  He  drew  that  army  on 
through  that  great  desert  to  the  capital  of  the  Sudan  that  they 
might  maintain  their  honor  and  again  place  the  Union  Jack  where 
the. noble  soldier  shed  his  blood. 

And  during  all  this  period,  a  period  of  eighteen  years  or  more, 
wherever  the  army  of  the  Mahdi  went,  to  the  east,  to  the  west, 
to  the  north,  to  the  south,  it  left  devastation  in  its  tracks.  Seventy- 
five  jDer  cent,  of  the  population  perished.  Of  a  great  tribe  of  seven 
thousand  warriors  there  were  only  eleven  families  left.  Another 
that  had  thousands  and  thousands  of  families  was  almost  anni- 
hilated. Tribe  after  tribe  was  simply  wiped  out  of  the  Sudan. 
The  one  mad  desire  of  this  Mahdi  seemed  to  be  devastation  where- 
ever  he  went. 

And  now  I  wish,  in  the  light  of  this  history,  to  refer  to  one 
passage  of  Scripture,  a  passage  that  reveals  God's  thought  of  this 
people  long  before  either  you  or  I  thought  of  it.  It  is  the 
eighteenth  chapter  of  the  Prophecy  of  Isaiah :  "Ah  !  The  land 
of  the  rustling  of  wings  which  is  beyond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia, 
go  ye  swift  messengers  to  a  nation  which  is  tall  and  smooth, 
carried  away  and  peeled,  meted  out  and  trodden  down,  whose 
land  the  rivers  divide.  Thus  saith  Jehovah  unto  me,  I  will  abide 
in  my  dwelling  place  like  a  clear  heat  in  noonday,  and  they  shall 
be  cut  ofif  as  branches  with  the  pruning  hook,  and  the  branches 
shall  be  cast  to  the  ravenous  birds  and  the  ravenous  birds  shall 
feed  upon  them,  and  the  beasts  of  the  mountains  shall  come  down 
and  winter  upon  them.  But  in  that  time" — when  these  things 
shall  have  been  accomplished — "in  that  time  shall  a  present  be 
brought  unto  Jehovah  of  Hosts  unto  A'lount  Zion ;  of  a  people 


118  FORHIGX    MIS    loXARV    JUniI.K^    COXVKNTION, 

tall  and  smooth,  a  people  meted  out  and  trodden  down,  whose  land 
the  rivers  divide,  unto  the  place  of  the  name  of  Jehovah  of  Hosts, 
inito  Mount  Zion.'' 

\()\v.  let  us  look  at  the  interpretation  of  this  passage  just  for 
a  moment.  "TJic  land  of  the  nisfliiig  of  -cciiigs."  In  the  Sudan 
we  have  thousands  and  thousands  of  birds,  great  birds  that  stand 
higher  than  a  man's  head,  birds  that  live  almost  entirely  away 
von.ckr  in  the  .u])per  ether,  and  then  thousands  and  millions  of 
smaller  birds.  And  if  you  were  to  start  a  fire  in  the  grass-covered 
jilain  it  would  only  be  a  few  minutes  until  great  flocks  of  these 
birds  would  be  circling  round  and  round  above  it,  coming  down 
iiUo  almost  the  midst  of  the  flames  for  their  prey — the  reptile  and 
insect  life  that  hides  in  this  tall  grass. 

And  then  how  aptly  is  the  land  located  for  us.  It  is  "the  land 
that  is  be\ond  the  rivers  of  Ethiopia,"  and  "the  land  which  the 
ri\ers  of  Ethiopia  divide."  Now,  the  "rivers  of  Ethiopia"  or 
"Cush"  are  many.  But  there  are  three  great  rivers.  There  is  the 
Atbara.  where  Lord  Kitchener  built  his  bridge  with  American 
engineers  in  less  time  than  all  Europe  could  do  it  in.  The  Atbara 
Hows  from  the  north  of  Abyssinia  down  through  Nubia  and 
<.'m])ties  into  the  Nile  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  north  of 
Khartum.  Then  there  is  the  I'lue  Nile,  rising  in  the  western 
steppes  of  Abyssinia  and  emptying  intc^  the  Nile  at  Khartum. 
Six  Imndred  miles  south  of  this,  further  up  the  Nile,  is  another 
river,  called  the  Sobat,  and  this  also  rises  in  the  western  slopes 
of  the  Abyssinian  mountains  and  empties  into  the  Nile  six  hundred 
miles  south  of  Khartum.  These  are  three  of  the  great  rivers  that 
divide  the  land  with  their  many  tributaries,  and  I  believe  that  all 
the  region  of  that  valley  east  of  the  White  Nile,  and  including 
all  its  tributaries,  was  intended  in  this  prophecy. 

And  it  was  a  ])eoi>le  that  sends  its  messengers  in  "vessels  of 
l)ai)_\rns  upon  the  waters."  Down  to  this  (la_\-  the}-  make  such 
vessels  and  go  up  and  down  tlu-se  great  rivers. 

I'.nl  for  years  tlie\  were  a  ])eo])le  "meted  out  and  trodden 
down,"  whose  condition  was  "terrible  from  the  beginning  on- 
ward." Is  that  not  the  history  of  this  people?  Has  it  not  been 
so  for  long  ages?  lA'cn  when  history  was  only  written  in  the 
hierogl\i)hies  in  tlie  temples  and  tombs  down  in  Egyi)t,  that  was 
their  history.  And  tlie\  have  been  the  lawful  ])rey  of  the  white 
man  ever  sniee.  There  is  not,  i)erliai)s,  a  harem  an}-where  from 
Khartum  to  Constantinople  thai  has  not  been  supplied  with  slaves 
iind  eunuchs  from  this  district.     Thousands  and  thousands  have 


OUR   SUDAN  MISSION.  119 

Tiecn  carried  into  .Arabia  and  Constantinciple  and  Asia  and  throus^h 
tile  Levant.  This  is  the  history  of  the  pe(t])le  "meted  enit  and 
trodden  down." 

And  then,  ai^ain,  God  is  here  simply  represented  as  waiting^. 
JUn  in  the  meantime  we  are  told  to  be  expectant:  "When  an 
ensiiin  is  lifted  up  in  the  mountains,  see  ye,  and  when  a  trumpet 
is  blown,  hear  ye."  An  ensig-n  and  a  trumpet  surely  signify  war, 
and  the  nature  of  that  war  is  clearly  .described  in  the  next  few 
verses :  It  shall  be  like  the  cutting"  of  the  branches  as  the  grape 
is  beginning  to  form  before  the  harvest,  and  those  branches  "shall 
be  cast  to  the  ravenous  birds,  and  the  ravenous  birds  shall  feed 
upon  them,  and  the  beasts  of  the  mountains  shall  come  down  to 
winter  upon  them."  Destruction  and  devastation  both  to  the  vine 
and  the  product  of  the  vine.  That  is  what  it  means.  If  it  pre- 
figures anything,  it  is  a  devastating  war.  And  it  came  in  the  eigh- 
teen years  of  the  Mahdi's  rule.  I  am  told  by  those  that  followed 
that  camp  wherever  it  went  that  these  great  birds  simply  swarmed 
over  the  army,  day  after  day,  literally  overshadowing  the  ground. 
And  if  you  take  the  other  rendering,  "the  land  of  the  rustling 
of  wings,"  the  interpretation  is  the  same,  for  if  you  stopped  to 
listen  at  any  time,  you  could  hear  the  swish  of  the  wings  of  those 
greati^ flocks  of  birds  as  they  passed  over.  And  I  was  told  also, 
■by  Father  Ohrwalder,  who  was  with  the  Alahdi  and  in  his  camp 
for  ten  years,  that  in  that  battle  with  King  John  even  the  thou- 
sands upon  thousands  of  these  great  vultures  that  followed  the 
army  and  the  innumerable  number  of  hyenas  that  came  down 
off  the  mountains  were  not  sufficient  to  consume  the  dead  bodies. 
And  if  you  go  across  that  great  plain  to  the  west  and  north  of 
( )mdurman  you  will  find  it  literally  covered  with  human  bones, 
•polished  by  the  sand  and  glistening  in  the  sun,  where  for  }ears 
during  the  Alahdi's  rule  five  hundred,  ten  hundred,  fifteen  hun- 
dred or  more  of  these  poor,  unfortunate  creatures  were  cast  out 
upon  the  sand,  and  if  you  happen  to  be  there  in  the  night  time 
and  lose  your  wa}-,  you  will  find  that  the  hyenas  even  to  this  day 
come  down  off  the  mountains  and  dig  up  the  bodies  of  those  that 
were  fortunate  enough  to  be  buried  and  literally  feed  u]:)on  them. 
A  literal  fulfillment  of  this  passage  of  Scripture. 

Then  you  have  that  last  verse:  "In  that  day,''  when  these 
things  shall  have  been  fulfilled,  "a  present  shall  be  brought ;  a 
people  tall  and  smooth,  a  people  carried  away  and  peeled,  a  people 
meted  out  and  trodden  down,  whose  land  the  rivers  divide,  unto 
:the  place  of  the  name  of  Jehovah  of  Hosts  unto  Alount  Zion." 


120  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEP;    CONVENTION. 

It  is  yours  and  mine  to  claim  this  promise.  We  are  just  be- 
ginning the  fulfiUment  of  it.  In  regard  to  India  and  Egypt,  we 
can  point  back  and  see  that  God  has  approved ;  but  in  this  one 
great  prophecy  He  has  approA^ed,  and  not  only  approved,  but  laid 
down  the  line  so  clearly  and  so  positively  that  we  cannot  fail  to 
see  the  future  of  the  Sudan. 

Away  back  in  1881  or  1882  there  was  a  proposition  made  to 
our  missionary  association  in  Egypt  that  we  go  into  the  Sudan. 
It  didn't  seem  possible.  We  did  not  seem  to  have  men  or  money 
to  do  that.  And  then  came  that  devastating  war  that  made  it 
impossible  to  do  it.  During  those  years  the  battle-cry  in  Egypt 
and  in  England  had  been  "O;/  to  Khartum!"  When  it  died  out 
over  there  as  their  battle-cry,  it  came  to  us  down  in  Eg>pt  as  a 
command  from  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  and  there  seemed 
to  be  some  impelling  force  outside  of  the  mission,  outside  of  our 
Church,  that  drove  us  on  into  the  Sudan;  and  just  as  the  British 
government  and  British  power  and  authority  was  driven  on  into 
the  Sudan,  so  was  the  American  Mission ;  and  it  found  no  resting 
place  at  Khartum,  but  had  to  go  beyond — into  "the  regions  be- 
yond"-— among  the  black  people. 

It  had  been  our  purpose,  and  possibly  had  been  the  thought  of 
Father  McCague  and  his  associates,  that  some  day  this  mission 
would  have  an  open  field  in  the  Sudan,  an  outlet  for  the  energy 
(jf  the  evangelical  Egyptian  Church,  because  in  Northern  Sudan— 
from  Khartum  north — they  speak  the  Arabic  language ;  and  down 
in  Egypt  the  missionaries  learn  to  speak  the  Arabic  language,  and 
all  our  young  men  and  women  are  trained  in  that  language.  What 
could  be  more  natural,  then,  than  that  we  should  have  a  mission 
in  Northern  Sudan?  But  the  authorities  said,  "No;  you  may  not 
begin  work  here,  but  you  may  go  beyond  atmong  the  non-Moslem 
l)opulation,  among  the  blacks,  and  you  may  do  as  }-ou  please 
there."  Well,  it  did  seem  to  us  rather  unjust.  It  could  not  be 
that  (Jod  meant  it;  that  this  was  not  an  indication  of  His  Provi- 
dence and  His  direction.  But,  after  some  prayer  and  conference, 
we  went.  We  explored  the  region  of  the  Sobat  river,  and  let  me 
say  here  that  that  region  of  country  has  a  very  bad  name  as  to 
climate.  Ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  white  men  that  have  gone 
into  this  region  have  left  there  in  a  few  months  or  gone  into  their 
graves.  It  was  ini])erative  that  we  make  no  mistake.  If  it  was 
])ossible  for  a  white  man  to  live  in  that  region  and  do  effective 
work,  we  nnist  find  the  ri<^ht  ('lace.  So  we  went  uj)  and  down 
that  river  until  we  found  what  we  thought  was  a  splendid  loca- 


OUR  SUDAN  MISSION.  121 

tion.  We  returned  and  made  our  report  and  were  authorized  to 
return  to  this  place.  But  just  at  the  time  that  we  were  intending 
to  go  back  and  our  goods  had  already  been  shipped,  we  received 
information  from  the  authorities  that  gave  us  the  permission  that 
it  had  been  withdrawn.  On  what  grounds  ?  On  the  ground  that  in 
the  meantime — that  is,  while  we  had  been  doing  this  exploring 
work — the  Catholics  had  established  a  mission  sixt}-  miles  to  the 
north  of  us,  and  we  were  told  that  we  could  begin  the  work  at  any 
point  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant  in  any  direction  from 
this  center.  Think  of  it !  A  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  east, 
a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  west,  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
to  the  north,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  south,  is  ninety 
thousand  square  miles  right  out  of  the  heart  of  that  Egyptian 
Sudan,  including  all  the  mighty  rivers.  Well,  friends  never  before 
did  it  strike  me  so  forcibly  that  God  had  sent  us  in  there.  We 
represented  all  Protestant  Christendom  in  that  section  of  the 
world,  and  the  spirit  of  our  ancestors  rose  up  within  us  and  we 
felt  the  Scotch-Irish  blood  thrill  through  our  veins,  and  we  i^ro- 
tested.  And  I  suppose  that  in  that  protest  there  was  a  little  bit 
of  the  spirit  that  we  felt.  And  there  came  back  a  ro])l\-  that  they 
were  astounded  at  our  assurance  in  making  our  protest,  and  as- 
tonished that  we  could  question  the  right  of  the  government  to 
decide  its  own  afifairs.  And  to  this  we  had  to  reply  tliat  we  were 
astounded  that,  in  this  twentieth  century,  there  was  any  govern- 
ment, whether  it  be  Christian,  pagan  or  heathen,  that  would  deny 
a  man  the  right  to  protest.  •  And  in  the  name  of  Christ  we  made 
our  protest,  but  not  to  a  Mohammedan  government,  not  to  a 
pagan  government,  but  to  a  Christian  people.  We  would  api)eal 
to  the  Christian  people  of  England.  It  is  a  long  storv  ;  1  cannot 
tell  it  all.  It  might  be  very  interesting,  but  I  wish  to  say  here 
that  I  believe  thoroughly  that  God  brought  us  to  the  Sudan  for 
that  particular  moment  to  make  that  protest  as  the  representative 
of  Protestant  Christendom. 

Our  privilege  was  granted.  We  were  allowed  to  return  to  the 
place  we  had  selected  on  the  Sobat  River.  Ikit  now  the  time  had 
gone  by.  Months  had  passed  that  were  very  ])reci()us  to  us. 
There  were  no  homes  awaiting  us  there  for  our  protection.  The 
place  we  had  selected  was  in  the  midst  of  a  great  plane,  and  \ye 
had  to  build  our  houses  before  the  rainy  season  began,  so  we 
should  have  to  hurry  back.  Could  we  do  it  ?  The  United  Presby- 
terian Church  had  been  expecting  us  to  do  it,  so  we  went,  and 
God  justified  our  faith.     He  not  only  kept  back  the  rain  later  than 


122  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

usual  that  year  and  brought  it  to  an  end  sooner  than  ordinary — so 
we  had  a  very  short  rainy  season  that  year ;  and,  notwithstanding 
some  trials,  we  could  sing  of  God's  mercies. 

We  landed  there  and  we  were  met  by  these  savage  people. 
The  sail  had  been  the  signal  that  we  were  coming,  and  for  miles 
around  these  black  neighbors  had  come  out  to  greet  us,  or  rather 
to  meet  us.  and  there  they  sat  on  the  bank,  three  to  five  Inuidred 
of  them.  Each  man  was  armed  with  a  spear,  or  a  spear  and  a 
club,  or  two  spears,  or  two  clubs,  and  they  were  all  naked.  I 
speak  advisedly,  friends,  when  I  say  "they  were  all  naked."  There 
was  not  perhaps  one  man  in  fifty  who  had  made  any  attempt  at 
covering  his  nakedness.  There,  my  friends,  is  what  I  mean.  That 
will  reveal  it  all  to  you  when  I  tell  you  that  here  is  a  full  dress 
suit.  (Holding  up  to  the  gaze  of  the  audience  a  bead  belt,  prob- 
ably half  an  inch  thick  and  two  feet  long.) 

We  landed  and  saluted  them  with  our  blandest  smile,  but  there 
was  no  response.  We  asked  them  to  help  us  remove  our  goods 
and  place  them  back  under  the  trees,  but  not  a  man  would  move. 
We  placed  our  goods  under  the  trees  and  dismissed  our  boats, 
which  returned  towards  Khartum.  We  were  there  alone — four 
of  us.  And  maybe  that  night  it  was  lonely !  As  these  people  went 
off  to  their  villages,  some  distance  away,  it  tvas  lonely;  but  we 
had  our  evening  devotions,  and  made  our  beds  under  those  great 
trees,  and  went  to  sleep  that  night,  and  slept  as  peacefully  as  you 
will  sleep  here  in  the  heart  of  this  city  to-night.  And  for  the 
next  six  weeks,  before  we  had  a  house  or  a  shelter  of  any  kind, 
these  people  never  once  disturbed  us,  and  after  we  had  built  our 
houses  there  was  neither  door  nor  window,  and  our  goods  were 
at  some  little  distance, — the  things  we  had  -brought  for  barter  or 
provision. — and  we  lost  absolutely  nothing  from  theft. 

Of  course,  our  first  chief  thought  was  to  find  some  shelter  and 
protection  for  ourselves.  Already  the  sky  was  overcast,  and  every 
evening  and  night  we  had  thunder  and  lightning,  and  we  knew 
that  the  rain  would  soon  l)o  here.  Wc  would  have  to  find  some 
shelter,  so  wt'  began,  first  of  all,  to  gatlier  wood  for  the  houses  we 
cxi)ected  to  l)uil(l.  \\\'  inlrndt'd  to  build  something  after  the 
architecture  of  tlic  counlr\,  and  thi'  lionsc  of  the  country  was 
simply  a  little  circle  of  nuid  about  six  feet  high,  with  a  small 
opening  about  two  feet  or  two  feet  and  a  half  high  in  the  side,  and 
a  thatch  of  straw.  The  door  is  ver\-  small,  and  you  must  get 
down  on  your  hands  and  knees  if  you  want  to  get  in,  and  some 
of  us  have  to  go  in  edgewise,      lint  we  had  ex])ected  to  build  a 


OUR   SUDAN  MISSION.  123 

larger  room,  with  doors  and  windows.  We  sent  out  these  men — 
some  eight  of  them — for  poles.  They  came  back  in  the  evening, 
and  each  man  had  a  stick  of  wood  about  three  or  four  or  five  feet 
long,  and  so  crooked  that  it  was  absolutely  worthless.  The  second 
day's  work  was  very  little  better.  We  busied  ourselves  in  making 
our  camp  in  those  two  days,  and  the  day  following  was  the 
Sabbath,  and  we  thought,  just  as  you  and  every  good  United 
Presbyterian  believes,  that  we  had  a  right  to  sleep  a  little  longer 
Sabbath  morning  than  any  other ;  so  we  intended  to  have  a  day 
of  rest.  But  long  before  we  were  out  of  bed  they  were  lifting  the 
curtains  of  the  tent  and  looking  in,  and  all  day  long  they  were 
about  us  in  scores,  and  when  evening  came  we  felt  as  though  we 
had  been  to  a  circus  and  had  been  the  animals  and  had  been 
looked  at  all  day.     It  was  not  a  day  of  rest. 

Monday  morning  Dr.  McLaughlin  and  I  concluded  that  we 
would  build  our  own  houses.  It  had  been  a  long  time  since  we 
had  tramped  mud  in  just  that  way.  But  we  began  to  make  the 
walls.  I  think  we  had  perhaps  two  feet  of  wall  when  they  took 
pity  on  us  and  came  to  us  and  said,  "Old  man,  we  will  build  for 
3'ou  if  you  will  pay  us  for  it."  We  said,  "Certainly,  we  would 
be  glad  to  have  them  work,"  and  they  went  away  and  we  didn't 
expe4  to  see  them  again.  They  came  back  again,  but  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  and  we  explained  to  them,  "This  is  our  day  of 
rest,  a  day  sacred  to  our  God;  on  this  day  we  do  no  work."  And 
from  that  day  on  we  were  never  troubled  with  regard  to  work  on 
the  Sabbath.  They  counted  six  days,  for  they  had  no  days  in  the 
week,  and  the  seventh  day  was  our  rest  day.  They  were  there 
for  our  services  and  devotions ;  they  were  there  at  all  times  ;  but 
on  the  Sabbath  day  the)'  gave  us  no  more  trouble  with  regard  to 
the  work. 

On  Monda}-  they  came  back  and  began  work  at  about  half  past 
five  in  the  morning,  and  at  seven  o'clock  they  were  all  gone. 
There  were  perhaps  twenty  men  and  twenty  women,  but  there 
was  not  one  of  them  remained,  and  we  never  supposed  they  would 
come  back.  So  through  the  heat  of  the  day  Dr.  McLaughlin  and 
I  worked  away.  But  about  an  hour  before  the  sun  went  down 
they  came  back  and  did  about  an  hour's  work,  and  that  was  all 
we  could  secure  from  those  people  by  love  or  money,  threat  or 
pleading,  during  all  the  time  we  were  making  those  houses — 
about  three  hours  a  day.  I  don't  know  whether  I  ought  to  men- 
tion it  or  not.  but  they  certainly  had  some  sort  of  labor  union 
among  themselves,  because  they  were  all  of  one  mind.  Before 
the  rains  came  we  had  one  house  finished  and  the  roof  on. 


12-t  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

And  here  I  think  I  mnst  tell  of  onr  experience.  It  would  cer- 
tainly have  been  a  joyful  day  but  ior  one  fact.  There  was  one 
of  our  niunber  struck  with  the  sun  that  day.  Fever  followed, 
tyi)hoi(l  in  type,  and  for  months  we  despaired  of  her  life. 

lUit  here  was  another  experience  I  wish  to  mention.  While  down 
in  Egypt,  for  one  reason  or  another,  I  was  a  pioneer  missionary. 
I  knew  Egypt  as  perhaps  few  other  missionaries  ever  come 
to  know  it,  all  the  way  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea  to  Assuan. 
I  did  not  always  think  it  a  privilege  to  be  a  pioneer  missionary, 
and  it  is  not  the  most  pleasant  work  in  Egypt,  where  you  have  the 
three  "f's" — Hies,  Heas  and  filth.  But  I  thank  God  for  that  life. 
It  brought  an  experience  into  my  life  that  I  will  never  cease  to 
thank  God  for.  When  the  word  went  down  to  Egypt  that  one 
of  our  number  was  ill,  there  came  to  us  letters  from  all  over  Egypt 
from  the  native  Christians,  reading  something  like  this :  "We 
have  heard  that  the  one  we  love  is  ill.  God  will  surely  heal  her. 
We  met  last  night  and  prayed  for  the  one  we  love."  So  these 
messages  came  to  me  from  different  parts  of  Egypt,  from  the 
people  whose  faces  I  had  forgotten  and  whose  names  I  could 
never  recall.  And,  my  friends,  let  me  say  this,  in  proportion  as 
we  give  out  love  and  sympathy  in  this  world,  in  the  name  of  Christ 
and  for  Christ's  sake,  in  the  hour  of  our  need,  whatever  that  be, 
it  will  come  back  to  us  a  hundred  fold.  God  never  forgets.  He 
brings  His  reward.  His  love  to  other  hearts. 

When  the  rainy  season  was  over  we  called  these  people  together 
again  and  said  to  them :  "Now  we  are  going  to  build  our  houses. 
We  want  to  have  you  help  us."  \h'c  had- conceived  this  thought, 
that  our  first  wcjrk  for  these  poor,  sini])le  people  must  be  a  lesson 
of  labor,  something  of  the  dignity  of  labor.  I  believe  there  can 
be  no  character  without  legitimate,  profitable  labor — lal)or  tliat 
])roduces  something  for  yourself  and  others.  And  so  we  nmst 
teach  these  people  that  lesson.  And  we  told  them  what  we  wished. 
Ihit,  above  all  else,  we  explained  that  we  wanted  a  da\  's  work. 
"Yes,  sir,"  they  said,  "we  know."  Ihit.  you  know,  they  didn't. 
They  came  to  me  and  said:  "Old  man,  we  are  going  to  die.  .My 
back  aches,  and  my  breast  hurts,  and  my  arms  hurt,  and  I  am 
going  to  die."  We  knew  they  were  not  going  to  die.  We  liad 
been  working  with  them  right  along  da\-  after  day.  Dr.  Mc- 
Laughlin and  I,  and  our  lame  muscles  helped  us  to  feel  what  they 
exi)resse(l  in  saying,  "We  are  going  to  die,"  but  we  knew  also 
that  the  disease  would  heal  itself.  After  two  or  three  weeks  it  was 
all  over  ;  they  had  learned  their  lesson  and  thev  were  better  for  it. 


OUR  SUDAN  MISSION.  125 

I  might  go  on  indefinitely,  telling  you  of  these  poor,  simple 
people,  and  of  the  steps  we  took,  one  after  another,  to  teach  them ; 
but  I  want  to  emphasize  this :  That  we  got  nearer  to  them  because 
we  had  to  deal  in  this  way  with  these  poor,  simple,  black  people 
from  the  first.  Had  God  placed  in  our  hands  men  who  would 
have  done  the  service  we  required,  do  you  believe  that  we  or  any 
missionary  would  have  got  down  in  the  mud  alongside  of  these 
black  people  and  worked  there  for  days  and  months  ?  Not  at  all. 
Your  missionary  does  not  go  into  any  part  of  the  world  to-day 
to  do  that  kind  of  service.  And  yet  it  is  Christ's  service.  And 
he  placed  us  down  beside  those  black  people  that  we  might  draw 
their  hearts  to  us  and  through  us  to  something  better.  I  believe 
that  during  the  first  few  weeks  we  drew  the  hearts  of  those  people 
to  us  in  a  confidence  that  we  might  have  been  years  in  establishing 
had  we  had  this  service  performed  for  us.  That  was  Christ's  way. 
He  humbled  Himself  that  He  might  get  into  touch  with  fallen, 
sinful  humanity  and  lift  them  up.  And  this  is  to  be  your  method 
and  mine. 

Now  you  will  want  to  know  about  these  people.  Can  we  do 
anything  with  them?  Some  people  say  that  we  cannot.  But,  my 
friends,  as  we  heard  here  last  night  from  one  more  worthy  than  I, 
even  'supposing  we  could  not,  with  God's  great  promise  before 
us,  bearing  the  stamp  of  His  command,  what  else  are  you  going 
to  do?  What  else  can  you  do?  But  we  can  do  something  with 
them.  And  just  as  long  as. that  promise  remains  there  in  that 
book  that  "A  people  shall  be  brought  unto  Jehovah  of  Hosts,  a 
present  from  a  people  tall  and  smooth,  meted  out  and  trodden 
down,  terrible  from  the  beginning  onward,  whose  land  the  rivers 
divide,  unto  the  place  of  the  name  of  Jehovah  of  Hosts,"  just  so 
long  as  God  gives  me  breath,  then  I  shall  plead  for  the  poor  black 
people. 

They  are  intelligent,  however^  Look  at  your  black  jx'ople  in 
this  country.  Ask  our  venerable  father  yonder  about  that.  Are 
they  not  intelligent?  He  tells  me  that  forty  years  ago  in  this  land 
here  we  set  free  four  millions  of  negroes.  Now  they  are  ten 
millions,  and  in  spite  of  the  neglect,  in  spite  of  the  abuse,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  the  white  man  ha:s  almost  opposed  them  in  every- 
thing, yet  they  have  raised  up  men  that  stand  alongside  of  our 
best  men  and  are  worthy  of  a  place  at  our  worthy  President's 
table.  I  believe  that  the  black  man  has  just  as  much  intelligence 
as  the  white  man.  It  may  run  in  difiFerent  lines,  possibly,  but  it 
can  be  developed.     God  has  given  him  a  soul,  and  a  soul  that  is 


126  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

created  in  His  image,  just  as  your  soul  is,  and  mine.  It  is  one 
Creator,  and  not  two.  And  the  same  Saviour  that  can  rescue 
your  soul  and  mine,  however  scarred  by  sin,  however  sunken  it 
may  be,  that  same  Saviour  can  bring  back  this  people  to  His  own 
image. 

Fifty  years  have  passed  away ;  fifty  more  will  soon  pass  away, 
and  there  will  come  another  great  Jubilee.  But,  my  friends,  in 
that  great  Jubilee  there  will  not  be  many  here  present  to  assist. 
The  fathers  shall  have  passed  over.  Most  of  you  who  are  here 
present  will  be  over  yonder.  But  I  believe,  somehow  or  other, 
that  there  is  in  Heaven  a  sympathy  to-night  in  this  meeting  here 
upon  earth,  just  as  there  will  be  a  sympathy  in  Heaven  with  the 
great  Jubilee  of  our  mission  fifty  years  hence  when  we  meet  to 
celebrate  it;  and  there  will  be  there  a  great  throng  from  India 
and  from  Egypt,  and  there  will  be  there  others,  close  up  to  the 
great  throne  where  the  King  sits,  worshipping  and  serving  [Jim 
day  and  night.  And  some  one  will  say,  "And  who  are  these?" 
In  that  great  white  light  of  the  throne  there  will  be  no  race  line, 
no  color  line.  Then  you  will  hear:  "These  are  they  who  have 
come  up  through  the  great  tribulation.  They  are  washed  white 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb ;  they  have  come  from  the  land  of  'the 
rustling  wings,  from  a  people  terrible  from  the  beginning  on- 
ward, meted  out  and  trodden  down.'  "  But  the  great  King  who 
sits  on  the  throne  will  spread  His  tabernacle  over  them  and  no 
heat  shall  strike  them  any  more,  nor  any  plague  come  near  to  them 
any  more,  neither  thirst  nor  hunger  any  more,  and  God  shall  wipe 
away  the  tears  from  their  faces — and  /  ivant  to  he  there.  God 
help  us ! 


WEDNESDAY  EVENING— BUSINESS  MEN'S  MEETING. 
The  Greatest  Business  in  the  World:     Mr.  J.  Campbell  White. 
Laymen's  Conference  on  Foreign  Missions. 


THE  GREATEST  BUSINESS  IN  THE  WORLD. 

MR.    J.    CAMPfiELL    WHITE. 

The  advertised  claim  of  one  of  the  Hfe  insurance  companies 
is  that  it  is  the  greatest  financial  institution  in  existence.  The 
claim  is  untrue.  The  greatest  financial  institution  in  the  world  is 
the  Christian  Church.  It  has  far  more  invested  capital  and  vastly 
larger  annual  receipts  and  expenditures  than  any  other  organiza- 
tion. Its  investments  run  far  into  the  billions  of  dollars,  and  its 
annual  business  into  the  hundreds  of  millions. 

But  not  only  in  its  investments  and  its  annual  volume  of  business 
is  the  church  the  greatest  business  concern  in  the  world.  It  is  by 
far  the  greatest  producer  of  other  business  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  Its  by-products  are  the  leading  industrial  and  commercial 
enterprises  of  the  ages.  More  patents  for  new  inventions  are  ap- 
plied for  every  day  in  America  than  have  been  issued  in  Africa  or 
Chinj  in  millenniums.  This  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that 
Christianity  is  the  most  stimulating,  developing,  and  constructive 
force  in  all  history. 

No  better  business  investment  was  ever  made  than  the  mission- 
ary operations  of  the  Christian  Church,  even  if  judged  solely  by 
their  resulting  influences  on  trade  and  commerce.  And  no  money 
can  now  be  invested  that  will  so  enlarge  the  business  of  the  world 
as  to  evangelize  the  nations.  The  one  thousand  millions  of  heathen 
and  Mohammedan  people  now  living  constitute  two-thirds  of  the 
human  race.  They  can  be  evangelized  at  an  average  cost  of  about 
$2.00  each,  and  the  financial  return  on  this  investment,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  spiritual  return,  would  probably  be  at  least  100  per 
cent,  annually. 

The  most  progressive  nations  are  constantly  in  search  of  new- 
markets  for  their  products.  When  the  non-Christian  peoples  are 
lifted  up  to  the  same  level  of  intelligence  occupied  now  by  Chris- 
tian nations,  the  entire  business  of  the  world  will  be  at  least 
doubled.  The  propagation  of  a  message  that  has  within  it  such 
vitalizing  power  is  surely  a  theme  worthy  of  the  most  thorough 
consideration  on  the  part  of  business  men. 

129 


130  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILUE    CONVENTION. 

Not  only  is  Christianity  the  greatest  business  enterprise  in  the 
world — the  propagation  of  Christianity  is  the  first  business  of 
every  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  alone  who  is  at  heart  a  hea- 
then puts  his  own  business  first  and  makes  his  Master's  purposes 
subordinate  to  his  own.  The  only  right  answer  was  given  by 
Carey  to  the  question,  What  is  your  business?  when  he  said: 
"My  business  is  to  serve  the  Lord,  but  I  cobble  shoes  to  pay  ex- 
penses." The  unqualified  command  of  Jesus  Christ  to  every  fol- 
lower of  His  is  unmistakable  in  its  meaning:  "Seek  ye  first  the 
kingdom  of  God."  This  means  first  in  time,  in  thought,  in  effort, 
first  in  influence,  first  with  possessions,  first  always  and  every-, 
where  and  with  everything.  It  is  only  because  Christians  have 
sought  their  own  kingdom  first  that  long  ere  this  the  kingdom  of 
God  has  not  filled  the  earth.  "The  only  reason  why  Christianity 
does  not  possess  the  world  is  because  Christ  does  not  possess 
Christians."  Mr.  John  H.  Converse,  of  the  Baldwin  Locomotive 
Works  in  Philadelphia,  very  truly  says :  "When  business  men 
apply  the  same  energy  and  intelligence  to  the  work  of  missions 
which  govern  in  their  commercial  ventures,  then  the  proposition, 
to  evangelize  the  world  in  this  generation  will  be  no  longer  a 
dream." 

L  Let  us  first  of  all  get  a  clear  idea  of  how  we  are  spending  the 
money  that  is  now  being  contributed  by  our  church.  Nearly  two 
millions  of  dollars  were  contributed  for  all  purposes  last  year. 
The  minutes  of  the  last  General  Assembly  gives  the  following 
figures  as  to  its  use : 

For  Congregational  Work,  including  pastors'  salaries, 
$1.394,000 — 70  per  cent. 

For  Extension  Work  of  all  kinds  in  America,  including 
the  work  of  all  the  Boards,  except  the  Foreign,  and  also 
General  Contributions,  $381,000 — 20  per  cent. 
For  Foreign  Missions,  $191,000 — 10  per  cent. 

In  other  words,  90  per  cent,  of  all  our  contributions  are  spent 
on  work  in  America,  and  only  10  per  cent,  spent  abroad.  For 
every  dollar  we  gave  to  Foreign  Missions,  we  gave  two  dollars 
to  extension  work  of  one  kind  and  another  in  America,  and  spent 
$7.00  on  congregational  expenses,  which  is  chiefly  providing  reli- 
gious privileges  for  ourselves. 

But  the  real  seriousness  of  the  situation  does  not  yet  fully  ap- 
pear, for  our  fields  abroad  are  vastly  larger  than  our  share  of  the 
fields  at  home.  One  out  of  every  four  people  in  America  is  a 
member  of  some  Protestant  Church.     This  gives  three  people  tO' 


gre;at]<;st  bussinuss  in  thk  worIvD. 


131 


FOREIGN 


10% 

^191.000 


MISSIONS 


I 


CONGREGATIONAL 
EXPENSES 

ro% 

$1,394,000 


Extension 

WORK 

—   IN   — 

AMERICA 

20% 

$381,000 


For  each  of  500.000inAmerica33i  Annually. 
Foreach  of  IGMiliions  Abroad.OI  HAnnually. 

be  reached  by  very  Church  member,  and  a  number  to  every 
Church  equal  to  three  times  its  own  membership.  Our  Church 
of  120,000  members  would  thus  have  a  field  of  360,000  people  to 
reach.  But  for  the  sake  of  even  figures  let  us  regard  another  20,- 
000  as  included  in  our  field  in  America.  I  am  sure  that  as  Ignited 
Presbyterians  we  are  not  willing  to  take  less  than  our  full  propor- 
tion of  the  evangelization  of  America  This  gives  us  a  total  of 
500,000  in  our  Church  and  field  together  in  this  country.  In  this 
field  last  year,  we  spent  $1,775,000,  or  an  average  of  $3.()i  on 
every  man,  woman  and  child  included  in  this  500,000. 

In  our  Foreign  fields  we  have  sixteen  millions  to  reach,  and  we 
spent  on  them  last  year  $191,000,  or  one  and  three  sixteenths  of  a 
cent  on  each  one.  It  would  t3ke  us  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  years  at  this  rate  to  spend  as  much  on  each  individual  there  as 
we  now  spend  on  each  one  here  every  year.  In  all  fairness,  I 
want  to  ask  this  question :  Can  we  continue  to  do  this  and  obey 
the  command,  "Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself?"  The  simple  facts 
are  that  we  spend  nine  times  as  much  at  home  as  we  spend  abroad, 


132  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

and  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine  times  as  much  on  each  individ- 
ual for  whom  we  are  responsible  at  home  as  on  each  individual 
abroad  for  whom  we  have  definite  and  exclusive  responsibility. 

II.  It  is  now  time  to  ask,  What  financial  basis  is  necessary  in 
order  to  evangelize  the  people  now  living  in  our  own  mission 
fields? 

Your  answer  to  this  question  will  depend  on  your  interpretation 
of  the  command  of  the  ivlaster  who  has  sent  us  forth. 

There  are  three  clearly  defined  interpretations  which  the  Chris- 
tian Church  has  been  giving  and  is  now  giving  to  the  will  of 
Christ  with  reference  to  this  matter.  The  first  one  is  that  Christ's 
command  to  evangelize  the  nations  is  either  unnecessary  or  im- 
practicable or  unreasonable,  and  that  we  will  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  There  are  still,  in  all  of  our  churches,  a  few  people  who 
take  this  view  and  say  either  in  words,  or  in  actions  which  speak 
louder  than  words,  "we  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  missions." 
The  time  has  gone  by  when  any  Christian  denomination  would 
disgrace  itself  by  taking  that  attitude,  although  it  is  only  a  hun- 
dred years  ago  that  many  practically  did  so.  But  we  still  have  in 
all  our  churches  some  men  who  are  in  this  class. 

The  second  attitude  is  this :  "Christ  told  his  disciples  to  evan- 
gelize the  nations,  and  it  is  a  good  thing  to  spread  Christianity 
over  the  world.  I  have  no  particular  objections  to  missionary 
work.  If  another  man  or  another  man's  child  wants  to  wear  his 
life  out  in  these  dark  Pagan  lands  doing  such  work,  let  him  do  so. 
I  am  willing,  once  in  three  months,  to  feel  in  my  pocket  when 
the  missionary  plate  comes  around,  and  if  I  happen  to  have  a  quar- 
ter or  a  half  dollar  I  don't  mind  putting  it  in  to  help  along  this 
work."  And  some  are  willing  to  go  further,  and  give  larger 
amounts,  but  they  do  not  feel  any  particular  and  urgent  obligation 
resting  upon  them  to  do  the  work  on  any  adequate  scale  or  with 
any  very  great  earnestness.  This  is  practically  the  attitude  of  all 
Christian  Churclu's  as  such,  unless  it  be  our  own,  although  some 
individuals  in  all  churches  arc  far  above  so  careless  and  unChrist- 
like  a  spirit. 

There  is  a  third  attitude  which  looks  up  into  the  face  of  Christ, 
and  in  view  of  His  command  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture, understands  Him  to  mean  that  He  expects  His  disciples  in 
every  age  to  do  it.  He  does  not  expect  that  you  and  I  will  make 
any  effort  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  people  who  are  already  dead, 
or  that  we  shall  feel  a  special  responsibility  for  the  grandchildren 
.of  the  present  heathen  poinilation  of  the  world,  but  He  does  ex- 


gre;atest  bussiness  in  the  world.  133 

pect  us  to  spread  the  Gospel  throughout  the  world  in  which  we 
live,  and  reach  every  man  and  woman  and  child  in  it,  giving  them 
a  fair  and  adequate  opportunity  to  know  the  only  way  of  life  and 
hope.  I  do  not  know  what  interpretation  you  personally  give  to 
the  command  of  Christ,  but  our  Church  has  taken  an  official  atti- 
tude with  reference  to  this  matter,  so  that  we  are  not  at  liberty  to 
pick  and  choose  between  these  different  interpretations.  We  are 
compelled  by  the  official  action  of  the  General  Assembly  which 
met  two  years  ago,  to  interpret  the  command  of  Christ  in  the  third 
way.  The  appeals  from  our  missionary  representatives  in  India 
and  in  Egypt  say  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  reach  these  people 
and  make  the  Gospel  intelligible  to  them  unless  we  have  an  average 
of  one  missionary  for  every  twenty-five  thousand  heathen.  Our 
General  Assembly  declared  in  its  official  action  in  response  to  this 
appeal :  "The  appeal  of  our  foreign  missionary  associations  in 
India  and  Egypt  for  a  definite  increase  in  missionary  forces  should 
be  regarded  as  evidence  of  God's  awakening  of  the  Church  to  a 
clear  apprehension  of  her  missionary  obligations,  and  with  the  aim 
of  reaching  this  ideal  presented  by  the  missionaries  in  the  field, 
and  speedily  evangelizing  the  lands  especially  entrusted  to  our 
Church,  the  Board  is  instructed  to  begin  a  campaign  of  interest 
and,  effort  whereby  through  individuals  an  congregations  the 
support  of  missionaries  and  their  work  may  be  secured." 

Our  Church  is,  I  believe,  the  only  one  in  all  the  world  that  has 
put  itself  on  record  officially  as  interpreting  the  command  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  mean  that  zve,  tJic  members  of  the  church  of  to-day,  are 
tinder  the  most  solemn  obligation  to  carry  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  heathen  zi'ho  live  zchile  zi'c  live.  That  is  what  we 
understand  by  the  phrase  "the  evangelization  of  our  fields  in  this 
generation." 

And  now.  I  want  you  to  look  at  the  chart  in  order  to  consider 
once  more  the  question  of  whether  our  missionaries  were  reason- 
able in  asking  for  such  large  reinforcements. 

In  the  central  circle,  representing  the  Home  Church  and  field 
with  five  hundred  thousand  people,  there  are  to-day  six  hundred 
and  eighty-two  active  pastors,  in  addition  to  two  hundred  and 
seventy-five  ordained  ministers  who  are  not  in  the  active  pastorate. 
It  has,  in  addition  to  that,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  mem- 
bers, or  one  out  of  every  four  of  our  share  of  the  field  in  America. 
In  the  large  circle,  representing  our  foreign  fields,  there  are  six- 
teen thousand  members  of  our  Church,  or  one  for  every  one  thou- 
sand of  that  vast  population.     The  missionaries  ask  that  we  give 


134  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEe;    CONVENTION. 


^  16  MILLIONS  \> 
o 


«p 


tluni  ten  men  and  ten  women  for  a  field  the  size  of  our  home 
("Inirch  and  field,  that  is  all.  They  want  ten  men  for  every  five 
hnndred  thousand  i)cople  and  ten  women  to  work  along  with 
tlicm.  When  you  stop  to  rcmcmher  that  in  our  country  eighty- 
five  per  cent,  of  all  the  people  are  able  to  read,  while  in  our 
foreign  fields  ninet\-  ])er  cent,  arc  unable  to  read;  when  you  re- 
nuMnl)«.T  tliat  in  our  country  tlic  i)eople  for  whom  we  are  re- 
^l'>onsiblf.  if  they  are  ])rejudiced  in  favor  of  any  religion  are  preju- 
diced in  favor  of  Christianity,  whereas  in  our  foreign  fields  they 
are  pi)siti\fly  ])rejudiced  against  Christiaity,  and  in  many  cases 
would  rather  see  members  of  their  families  put  to  death  than  to 
st'c  tluin  become  Christians ;  when  you  remember  that  in  our  own 
country  we  are  able  to  reach  those  for  whom  we  are  responsible  in 
our  own  language,  while  over  yonder  our  missionaries  are  com- 
])elled  to  spend  one  or  two  years  in  mastering  a  difficult  foreign 
language  before  being  able  to  preach,  I  think  we  will  be  inclined 
to  agree  that  the  missionaries  have  not  asked  an  exorbitant  or  un- 
reasouable  thing  when  they  have  seriously  undertaken  to  evangel- 


GRKATlvST    BUSSINESS    IN    THK    WORTJ).  135 

ize  sixteen  millions  of  people  if  we  will  give  them  ten  men  and  ten 
women  in  each  district  of  500,000  people. 

But  what  would  it  cost  to  support  that  number  of  workers? 
We  can  send  them  out  and  support  them,  together  with  the  native 
workers  they  would  raise  up  around  them,  at  a  cost  of  one  million 
dollars  a  year.  If  we  spend  that  for  a  generation  it  would  mean 
thirty-two  millions  of  dollars  in  thirty-two  years.  Divided 
among  the  sixteen  millions  of  heathen  in  our  fields,  it  would  be  an 
average  of  two  dollars  for  the  evangelization  of  each  individual. 

I  seriously  present  the  proposition  this  evening  that  it  is  possi- 
ble, unless  our  missionaries  after  fifty  years  of  experience  have 
entirely  underestimated  the  difficulties  of  the  problem  with  which 
they  are  face  to  face ;  it  is  posible  for  us,  for  every  two  dollars 
we  invest  in  this  enterprise,  to  evangelize  a  heathen  soul,  who 
has  within  him  all  possibilities  of  likeness  to  Jesus  Christ  and  of 
•  usefulness  in  the  service  of  Jesus  Christ  that  any  man  of  us  has 
here  to-night.  And  I  ask  you  wdiether  it  is  reasonable  for  us  to  at- 
tempt so  vast  an  enterprise  on  a  smaller  financial  basis  than  this. 
C)ur  country  was  willing  to  give  twelve  hundred  dollars  in  cash, on 
the  average,  for  the  physical  redemption  of  every  one  of  the  five 
millions  of  slaves  set  free  in  this  country  a  generation  ago.  Is  it 
too  much  to  ask  that  our  Church  give  two  dollars  to  make  possible 
the  setting  free  of  each  one  of  the  slaves  of  sin  in  our  mission  fields, 
a  mass  of  humanity  three  times  the  size  of  the  whole  slave  popu- 
lation of  this  country  a  generation  ago  ?  We  onl}'  ask  that  you 
spend  two  dollars  on  each  of  these  heathen  in  a  generation. 
Though  now  spending  $3.91  on  each  person  in  our  Home  Church 
and  field  e'zrry  year,  we  only  ask  you  to  spend  six  cents  a  year 
on  the  evangelization  of  each  heathen  abroad,  and  to  keep  that  up 
for  thirty-two  years,  and  we  promise  you,  so  far  as  human  fore- 
sight can  now  determine,  guided,  we  believe,  by  the  widsom  from 
above,  that  in  thirty-two  vears  it  will  be  possible  not  only  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  all  these  people,  but  to  preach  it  to  them  over  and 
over  again  in  their  own  languages  until  they  are  able  to  take  it  in, 
thus  making  themselves  responsible  for  whether  they  accept  or 
reject  it.  We  only  ask  that  in  the  next  thirty-tzvo  years  you  spend 
on  each  heathen  in  our  own  particular  fields,  as  much  as  you  now 
spend  on  each  individual  in  our  Home  Church  and  field  every  six 
months. 

If  our  life  depended  upon  it,  is  there  any  possible  question  that 
we  would  easily  and  quickly  raise  this  amount?     Does  it  matter 


136  FORIJIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILER    CONVExVTiON. 

to  US  less  when  the  lives  of  sixteen  millions  of  people  aetually  do 
depend  upon  it? 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood.  I  believe  that  every  person 
in  America  should  have  an  adequate  opportunity  to  become  a 
Christian.  In  the  nature  of  the  case,  all  branches  of  our  mission- 
ary work  should  be  gradually  enlarged.  But  it.  is  time  for  us  to 
realize  that  nothing  but  a  radical  readjustment  of  our  policies 
will  ever  solve  the  missionary  problem.  No  policy  can  be  right 
which  involves  deliberate  disobedience  to  Jesus  Christ's  command, 
"Preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  It  must  be  remembered 
that  the  vast  majority  of  all  the  people  in  America  can  only  be 
reached  as  the  present  members  of  the  church  exert  their  influence 
right  around  them  day  by  day,  in  leading  individuals  to  the  Sav- 
iour, while  our  Foreign  fields  can  never  be  reached  at  all  except 
as  messengers  are  sent  to  them.  We  cannot  but  rejoice  at  the 
movements  of  our  day  toward  a  closer  federation  or  union  of  the 
different  denominations.  This  tendency  is  in  strictest  harmony 
with  a  broad  outlook  on  the  world,  and  a  desire  to  locate  the  lead- 
ers of  the  Lord's  hosts  where  they  may  be  able  to  accomplish  most 
in  the  spiritual  conquest  of  the  world,  .We  have  never  yet  heard 
of  a  foreign  missionary  who  felt  that  his  field  was  too  small  for  his 
largest  and  best  efforts.  But  it  is  not  at  all  an  uncommon  thing 
to  hear  of  pastors  in  America  feeling  that  their  fields  are  too 
small.  It  is  rather  surprising  thing  that  in  our  own  Church  the 
average  pastcn-al  charge  has  in  it  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
members.  We  have  nearly  five  hundred  congregations  of  less 
than  one  hundred  members  each.  Some  of  them,  of  course,  are 
growing  congregations,  with  a  good  field  for  development,  but 
many  more  of  them  are  planted  so  close  to  other  churches  that 
there  is  very  little  prospect  of  large  growth.  In  these  small 
rhurclus,  wherf  the  struggle  to  support  themselves  is  felt  so 
kcH'nly,  it  is  corres])ondingly  difficult  to  arouse  and  maintain  a 
healthy  missionary  si)irit.  The  fact  is  that  if  we  had  the  same 
numl)er  of  members  in  half  the  number  of  congregations,  we 
would  be  better  off  in  every  way.  Thousands  of  pastors  and  tlieir 
supjxirt  might  be  set  free  in  this  country,  without  in  an\-  way 
weakening  the  Church  at  large,  if  some  basis  of  imion  between 
different  churches  conld  be  settled  upon.  Dr.  Arthur  J.  I'.rown's 
mn;irk  is  literally  true,  that  in  many  ])lact's  in  our  country  "we 
have  (|uartered  the  strength  of  the  churches  by  (iua(lru])ling  their 
numbers."  At  the  present  moment,  counting  our  field  in  America 
as  500,000,  we  have  one  active  pastor  for  every  733  of  this  num- 


GRnATKST    r.USIMvSS    IX    Till-;    WORLD.  137 

ber.     In  our  Foreign  field  they  only  ask  for  one  man  among  50,- 

000  people,  and  one  lady  to  work  with  him.  Is  it  not  reasonable 
to  supply  the  fields  of  50,000  each  with  Christian  leaders,  .before 
reducing  very  much  the  size  of  the  average  pastor's  field  in  this 
country?  In  order  to  give  our  Foreign  fields  one  man  and  one 
woman  among  every  50,000  people,  our  Church  must  give  about 
one  million  dollars  annually  to  this  work. 

III.  The  practical  question  then,  is,  How  can  this  amoiuit  be 
secured  ? 

God's  work  can  never  be  done  fully  except  as  we  do  it  in  God's 
way.  We  shall  never  succeed  entirely  in  getting  the  money  need- 
ed foor  extending  the  kingdom  of  Christ  until  we  literally  follow 
God's  directions  about  methods  of  giving.  There'are  four  inimis- 
takable  clear  Scriptural  laws  relating  to  this  subject. 

The  Principle  of  Worship. 

I.  The  first  of  these  it  that  our  gifts  to  God  should  l;)e  i)rescnted 
in  His  house  every  week,  as  an  essential  part  of  our  worship.  This 
law  is  based  on  passages  like  the  following,  and  is  in  fullest  har- 
mony with  the  whole  spirit  of  the  Scriptures:  ''Worship  the 
Lord  with  thy  substance  and  with  the  first-fruits  of  all  thine  in- 
creasie,  so  shall  thy  barns  be  filled  with  plenty  and  thy  presses 
shall  burst  out  with  new  wine. — Prov.  iii.  9-10.  Ilring  an 
offering  and  come  into  His  courts. — Psalm  xcvi,  8.  In  those 
days  their  chief  purpose  in  coming  to  God's  house  was  to  liring- 
their  offering.  If  worshipers  would  recall  this  as  they  enter  God's 
house  today,  it  might  lead  many  of  them  to  question  whether  it 
was  worth  while  to  come  so  far  to  bring  so  little.  The  New^ 
Testament  strongly  reinforces  this  principle  of  worshiping  God 
with  ofiferings,  when  it  says :  "Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let 
every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store  as  God  hath  prospered  him — 

1  Cor.  xvi,  2.     These  points  stand  out  clearly  from  these  passages  : 

a.  Our  offerings  are  to  be  in  zvorship  to  God.  "While  we  can- 
not serve  God  and  mammon,  we  can  serve  God  zvith  mammon." 

b.  These  offerings  are  to  be  brought  into  God's  house  to  be 
presented  to  Him. 

c.  They  are  to  be  presented  cz'cry  Lord's  day. 

d.  They  are  to  be  presented  by  "cz'cry  our." 

c.       They  are  to  be  in  proportion  to  our  prosperity. 

There  are  some  very  manifest  advantages  of  doing  our  giving 
in  God's  way.  And  first  of  all  is  the  great  spiritual  blessing  to  our- 
selves.    To  worship  God  with  our  gifts  fifty-two  times  a  year 


138  FOKKIGN    MlSiloXAkV    JUBILEE    CONVENTION'. 

brings  at  least  fifty-two  times  the  spiritual  blessing  from  this  ex- 
ercise that  would  be  ours  if  we  did  it  only  once  a  year. 

l^r.  Kidd,  of  our  Church  in  Heaver  Falls,  tells  of  how  he  used 
almost  to  choke  in  asking  (lod's  blessing  upon  the  offering  when 
it  was  all  to  be  spent  upon  the  congregation  itself.  But  now  that 
they  have  introduced  the  plan  of  giving  every  week  to  the  whole 
world-wide  work  of  Christ,  there  is  an  inspiration  and  enlarge- 
ment of  heart  in  praying  for  God's  blessing  upon  the  offering 
which  is  entirely  new.  The  same  spiritual  enlargement  will  come 
to  every  individual  who  gives  every  week,  in  the  right  spirit,  to  the 
evangelization  of  the  world. 

Weekly  giving  is  also  a  great  help  in  revealing  to  us  the  small- 
ness  of  our  gifts.  Last  year,  though  our  Church  gave  $70,000 
more  to  missionary  purposes  than  the  year  before,  we  gave  only 
$3.50  apiece,  on  the  average,  or  seven  cents  a  week  for  fifty  weeks. 
Seven  cents  would  not  purchase  one  of  the  twenty-one  meals  each 
of  us  eat  every  week,  but  that  is  the  measure  of  our  love  for  a 
world  that  is  starving  for  the  Bread  of  Life,  and  also  the  measure 
of  our  love  for  Him  who  said :  "If  ye  love  Me,  ye  will  keep  My 
commandments." 

The  average  amount  of  sugar  consumed  in  this  country  last 
year  was  sixty-five  pounds  for  every  man,  woman  and  child. 
Apart  from  our  own  congregational  expenses,  we  actually  gave 
less  for  the  redemption  of  the  world,  including  Home  Mission  work 
as  well  as  Foreign,  than  we  spent  for  the  sugar  we  used.  A  sug- 
gestion was  made  some  time  ago  that  prayer  be  offered  that  fifty 
new  missionaries  might  be  sent  out  this  year.  IMany  have  set  the 
suggestion  aside  as  utterly  impracticable  because  of  the  cost  in- 
volved. How  much  would  it  cost?  Less  than  a  postage  stamp 
a  week  from  each  of  «,>ur  members!  During-  the  first  six  months 
of  this  financial  year,  (jur  whole  Church  has  given  $52,000  to  For- 
•eign  Missions.  This  is  forty-three  cents  ]ier  member,  or  consid- 
'Crably  less  tlian  two  cents  a  week.  Is  this  -giving  "according  to 
-our  means,  or  according  to  our  meanness?" 

You  all  understand  \vhat  the  (|U()ta  is.  Last  year  it  was  $4.26 
])er  member.  This  year  it  is  $4.45  ikm"  member,  figured  on  the 
Munnal  basis,  instead  of  tlie  Scriptural  zvcckly  basis.  Do  you 
realize  how  much  of  an  increase  this  year's  quota  is  over  last 
year's?  Exactly  nineteen  fifty-seconds  of  a  cent  a  week. 
When  the  different  Boards  ])resente(l  their  reports  and  asked 
for  enlarged  appropriations,  the  total  asked  for  was  so  great 
that    the    JMnance    Committee    was    afraid    to    recommend    it    as 


GRIvATIvS'l'    liUSINljSS    IX    TUt  WORLD.  139 

the  basis  of  the  appropriations.  How  large  was  it?  It  was 
an  increase  of  forty- four  fifty-seconds  of  a  cent  a  week  that 
was  asked  for,  but  that  would  have  made  the  quota  for  the 
year  $4.70,  and  looked  at  in  this  way  it  seemed  larger  than 
could  possibly  be  hoped  for.  And  so  nothing  was  appropriated 
to  send  out  seven  new  missionaries  who  had  been  already  ap- 
pointed to  Foreign  Missionary  service,  and  other  amounts  asked 
for  by  the  other  Boards  were  cut  down  so  as  to  make  the  total 
$4.45  a  year,  an  increase  of  nineteen  fifty-seconds  of  a  cent  a 
week !  I  am  not  now  saying  that  the  total  amount  asked  for 
should  have  been  appropriated.  I  am  merely  illustrating  to  you . 
the  infinite  smallness  of  our  methods  of  dealing  with  the  vast 
interests  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  the  world.  While  we  waste 
dollars  habitually  on  ourselves,  and  split  pennies  with  God  after 
this  fashion,  the  Kingdom  of  God  can  never  come.  There  are 
tens  of  thousands  of  the  members  of  our  Church,  who,  if  they 
were  to  attempt  to  divide  their  present  offerings  to  all  missionary 
purposes  into  fifty-two  parts,  so  as  to  give  something  each  week, 
would  find  it  utterly  impossible  to  get  any  coin  of  the  realm  small 
enough  to  represent  the  unspeakable  smallness  of  their  love  and 
loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  world  which  He  loved  to  the  point 
of  laying  down  His  own  life  for  its  redemption.  "Hereby  perceive 
we  tlie  love  of  God  because  He  laid  down  His  life  for  us,  and  we 
ouqht  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren;  but  whosoever 
hath  the  world's  goods,  and  beholdeth  his  brother  in  need  and 
shutteth  up  his  compassion  .from  him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of 
God  in  him?" — I.  John  iii,  16-17.  This  is  God's  overwhelmingly 
emphatic  way  of  saying  that  His  love  simply  cannot  be  in  the  heart 
of  a  man  who  has  it  in  his  power  to  relieve  his  brother's  need  and 
refuses  to  do  it.  When  a  United  Presbyterian,  assuming  the  at- 
titude of  one  who  dares  to  dictate  to  God  concerning  His  plan  of 
redeeming  the  world,  attempts  to  clear  himself  of  solenm  responsi- 
bility by  saying.  "I  have  no  interest  in  missions,"  or  if  he  does  not 
say  it,  still  lives  careless  and  negligent  of  the  spiritual  needs  of 
two-thirds  of  the  human  race,  he  reminds  me  forcibly  of  one  of  the 
famous  characters  of  history,  who  in  the  presence  of  a  superlative 
opportunity,  and  under  the  very  eye  of  the  Son  of  God,  took  a 
basin  of  water  and  piously  washed  his  hands  in  the  presence  of  the 
multitude,  saying,  'T  am  innocent."  But  all  history  and  all  eter- 
nity will  brand  this  modern  Pilate,  as  the  one  of  old,  as  a  traitor 
and  a  murderer.  For  "he  who  refuses  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  missions,  refuses  to  let  other  people  live." 


140  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION, 

It  is  an  amazing  thing,  but  literally  true,  that  our  Church  could 
evangelize  the  entire  sixteen  millions  of  heathen  in  our  fields  at 
an  average  cost  to  each  of  us  of  sixteen  cents  a  week.  But  never 
until  the  whole  missionary  offerings  of  the  Church  are  put  upon 
the  weekly  basis,  in  accordance  with  the  plain  teaching  of  Scrip- 
ture, is  there  any  reason  to  expect  that  this  amount  will  be  provid- 
ed. This  then  ought  to  be  our  first  effort  in  all  our  congregations, 
to  get  every  one  of  our  members,  from  the  oldest  to  the  youngest 
to  present  a  weekly  oft'ering  to  God,  as  an  act  of  worship,  the 
offering  to  be  applied  not  merely  to  congregational  expenses,  but 
,to  the  work  of  spreading  God's  Kingdom  over  the  earth.  Prob- 
ably there  is  no  single  tendency  more  marked  or  more  hopeful 
among  our  congregations  to-day  than  the  growing  conviction  that 
the  weekly  method  is  the  divine  method.  Let  every  one  do  his 
uttermost  to  have  it  universally  adopted. 

The  Principle  of  Proportion. 

2.  The  second  of  God's  laws  of  giving  is  the  principle  of  pro- 
portion. Though  hundreds  of  passages  might  be  cited,  these  four 
should  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  any  open  mind  as  to  the  teaching* 
of  Scripture  on  this  point.  "The  tithe  is  the  Lord's.  It  is  holy 
unto  the  Lord." — Lev.  xxvii,  30.  "Will  a  man  rob  God?  Yet 
ye  rob  Me.  But  ye  say.  Wherein  have  we  robbed  Thee?  In 
tithes  and  offerings.  Ye  arc  cursed  with  a  curse,  for  ye  rob  Me, 
even  this  whole  nation.  Bring  ye  the  whole  tithe  into  the  store- 
house, that  there  may  be  meat  in  Mine  house,  and  prove  Me  now 
herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  if  I  will  not  open  you  the  wind- 
ows of  Heaven  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing  that  there  shall  not  be 
room  enough  to  receive  it." — Mal.iii,  8-10.  Here  is  a  definite 
charge  of  robbery ;  a  curse  pronounced  as  the  result  of  the  rob- 
bery, and  a  challenge  to  be  honest  in  giving  God  his  proportion, 
with  the  promise  that  overflowing  spiritual  blessing  would  result. 
We  have  the  endorsement  of  Christ  himself  to  tithe-giving  in  the 
following  passage :  "Ye  tithe  mint  and  anise  and  cummin. 
These  ye  ought  to  have  done." — Mat.  xxiii,  23.  And  the  inspir- 
ed declaration  of  how  the  (jospel  will  enable  us  to  fulfil  the  re- 
quirements of  the  law  is  given  by  Paul.  "For  what  the  law  could 
not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak  thnnigh  the  flesh,  God  sending  his  own 
Son,  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and  as  an  offering  for  sin,  con- 
demned sin  m  the  flesh  ;  that  the  requirement  of  the  law  might  be 
fulfilled  in  us  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  spirit." — 
Rom.  viii,  24.      If  the  Ciospel   fails  to  produce  in  us  a  spirit  of 


GRIvATKST    BUSINESS    IN    TlllC   WORLD.  14L 

obedience  to  God's  law,  there  can  be  no  surer  proof  that  we  are 
strangers  to  the  practical  power  of  the  Gospel  in  our  lives. 

The  fact  that  money  is  so  essential  a  factor  in  the  spread  of 
Christ's  Kingdom  proves  that  the  giving  of  it  is  absolut'jly  essen- 
tial to  the  proper  development  of  Christian  character.  God  could 
have  done  His  work  without  our  money  if  that  had  been  the  best 
way  of  doing  it,  but  He  saw  that  we  could  not  become  what  He 
wants  us  to  be  without  giving.  His  whole  appeal,  even  in  con- 
nection with  the  passage  in  which  He  charges  his  people  with 
robbery  in  withholding  the  tithe,  is  for  an  open  door  through 
which  He  may  come  into  their  lives  in  torrents  of  blessing.  All 
the  doors  of  the  soul  are  controlled  absolutely  from  within.  We 
open  and  close  them  at  our  own  pleasure.  The  inflow  is  therefore 
regulated  by  the  outflow.  Our  souls  are  impoverished  by  the 
smallness  of  our  gifts,  and  enriched  as  we  give  more  in  the  spirit 
of  Him  who  gave  all.  In  the  kingdom  of  God  the  richest  soul  is 
not  the  one  who  accumulates  most,  but  the  one  who  distributes 
most.  For  it  is  impossible  ever  to  give  away  so  much  that  God 
does  not  give  back  more.  No  wonder  then  that  "It  is  more  bless- 
ed to  give  than  to  receive."  He  alone  who  gives  can  receive.  To 
attempt  to  rob  God  is  to  succeed  in  pauperizing  one's  own  soul. 
"Hcihat  saveth  his  life  shall  lose  it.  And  he  that  loscth  his  life 
for  My  sake,  the  same  shall  find  it." 

No  one  would  for  a  moment  dare  to  argue  that  our  Church  is 
at  present  giving  anything  like  what  God  asked,  even  under  the 
old  dispensation.  In  very  few  of  our  congregations  can  a  tithe 
of  the  members  be  found  who  are  even  trying  to  give  God  a  tithe 
of  their  income.  While  this  spirit  of  greed  and  dishonesty  pre- 
vails, great  spiritual  blessing  will  be  impossible.  We  can  have  a 
universal  spiritual  blessing  throughout  our  Church,  on  this  one 
definite  condition,  that  we  obey  God  in  giving  Him  what  He  asks. 

Supposing  we  were  now  to  give  a  million  dollars  a  year  to 
Foreign  Missions,  could  it  be  done  if  we  gave  the  tithe  ?  To  give 
a  million  to  Foreign  Missions,  and  the  amount  we  now  give  to  all 
other  purposes,  would  require  us  to  give  an  average  of  $23  a  year 
to  all  purposes,  or  forty-five  cents  per  member  each  week.  The 
Covenanter  Church  already  gives  this  much,  largely  through  its 
emphasis  on  the  tithe  as  the  law  of  God.  What  income  would 
we  need  to  have  in  order  to  give  forty-five  cents  a  week,  as  our 
tithe  ?  We  would  only  need  an  income  of  seventy-five  cents  a  day 
for  six  days  in  the  week ;  and  that  is  only  half  the  amount  paid 
to  the  most  ignorant  and  unskilled  laboring  man  in  this  countr\' ! 


142  I'ORItiGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILTiE    CONVENTION. 

When,  therefore,  our  Church  does  its  duty  in  bringing  the  tithes 
of  God  into  his  storehouse,  there  will  be  no  financial  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  evangelizing  the  world.  It  would  be  our  duty  to  give 
this  much  even  if  no  world  waited  to  hear  the  Gospel.  With  such 
an  incentive  to  call  forth  our  gifts,  it  ought  to  be  an  added  delight 
to  keep  the  Lord's  treasury  always  filled. 

Tin-:  Principle  of  Stewardship. 

3.  But  there  is  a  third  divine  law  of  giving,  the  principle  of 
stewardship.  Even  after  a  full  tithe  has  been  paid,  no  Christian 
is  free  to  do  as  he  pleases  with  the  other  nine-tenths.  "Whatso- 
ever ye  do  in  word  or  in  deed,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  "Ye 
are  not  your  own ;  ye  are  bought  with  a  price.  Therefore  glorify 
God  in  your  body."  "The  silver  and  the  gold  are  Mine,  saith  the 
Lord,  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills."  One  of  the  most 
prominent  characteristics  of  the  Apostolic  Church  was  the  recog- 
nition of  God's  ownership  and  of  man's  stewardship.  "Not  one 
of  them  said  that  aught  of  the  things  which  he  possessed  was  his 
own." — Acts  iv.,  32, 

I  met  a  man  not  long  ago  in  one  of  the  large  cities  who  gives  a 
full  tithe  of  his  income  regularly  to  God,  and  then  feels  at  Hberty 
to  do  as  he  likes  with  the  balance.  He  was  at  that  time  building 
the  finest  residence  in  that  great  city,  largely  as  a  matter  of  pride 
and  vain  display.  He  might  have  built  a  house  with  all  modern 
comforts  and  conveniences  for  one-fifth  of  what  he  was  spending, 
and  with  the  balance,  he  might  have  evangelized  forty  thousand 
of  his  brother  men.  When  it  comes  to  the  last  great  day,  do  you 
think  he  will  be  worthy  of  God's' approval  for  faithful  steward- 
ship? If  we  accept  and  follow  the  Word  of  God,  we  will  not 
regard  ourselves  as  the  possessors  of  our  property  but  only  as  the 
trustees  of  it,  and  concerning  it  all,  we  will  say  to  the  Divine  own- 
er, "Lord  what  shall  I  do  with  this  dollar?" 

H  all  our  possessions  belong  to  God,  and  He  asks  us  to  do  a  cer- 
tain work  for  Him  requiring  more  than  the  ordinary  one-tenth  of 
our  income,  what  right  have  we  to  withhold  from  Him  the  use  o.f 
Plis  own  money?  A  man  in  Australia  sold  a  farm  and  gave  the 
whole  price  of  it  to  missionary  work.  On  being  questioned  about 
it,  he  said,  "If  my  father  lent  me  $too  and  afterward  came  to  me 
and  told  me  he  needed  it  for  some  work  he  was  doing,  and  I  were 
to  give  him  a  five-cent  piece,  what  kind  of  a  son  would  I  be?"  Of 
course,  God  expects  us  to  have  a  living,  but  He  is  not  honored  by 
the  luxury  and  vain  display  of  His  people,  especially  when  they 


greate;st  business  in  tiii^  world.  143 

indulge  in  it  at  the  cost  of  withholding  from  half  the  world  the 
very  necessities  of  life.  As  a  flagrant  illustration  of  the  mad  ex- 
travagance of  our  day,  I  took  the  trouble  when  in  New  York 
recently  to  visit  the  new  Hotel  St.  Regis,  costing,  I  believe,  about 
five  millions.  The  "ro\al  suite"  rents  for  $125  a  day,  and  was  al- 
ready engaged  for  an  indefinite  period.  Gold  knives  and  forks, 
and  solid  silver  water  pipes  in  the  bath  room,  may  convey  some 
suggestion  of  the  wanton  waste  exhibited.  Our  nation  and  our 
Church  have  no  greater  need  at  the  present  moment  than  t<3  put 
a  healthy  restraint  upon  the  luxury  and  vanity  that  so  characterize 
our  modern  life.  To  spend  all  we  feel  like  spending  on  ourselves 
and  give  the  leavings  to  God  for  His  work  in  the  world  is  scarcely 
the  spirit  in  which  the  Gospel  was  offered  to  humanity.  "How 
long  shall  we  continue  to  crucify  the  Son  of  God  afresh  on  the 
cross  of  our  own  convenience?"  Would  it  not  be  far  more  Christ- 
like to  give  what  is  really  needed  to  promote  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  the  world,  and  reduce  the  scale  of  our  personal  expenditures  ac- 
cordingly, if  necessary  ?  I  speak  deliberately  when  I  say  that  for 
my  part  I  would  gladly  be  one  of  a  group  of  people  who  would  so 
reduce  their  expenditures  as  to  be  able  to  give  away  at  least  half 
of  their  income  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  rather  than  belong 
to  ^  generation  that,  with  such  wonderful  opportunities  and  re- 
sources as  are  ours,  deliberately  allows  half  the  race  to  live  and  die 
ignorant  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  Principle  of  Sacrifice. 


principle  of  sacrifice.  "If  self-preservation  is  the  first  law  of 
nature,  self-sacrifice  is  the  first  law  of  grace."  Without  sacrifice 
on  man's  part,  the  Gospel  is  unpreached.  It  costs  much  to  follow 
Christ  faithfully,  even  though  it  costs  infinitely  more  not  to 
follow  Him  at  all.  It  is  not  merely  a  day  or  a  week  of  self- 
denial,  but  a  life  of  it.  to  which  Christ  calls  us.  "If  anv  man 
will  be  My  disciple."  note  the  inclusiveness  and  cxclusiveness 
of  the  language,  "If  any  man  will  be  My  disciple,  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  daily  and  follow  Me."' 
Christianity  was  founded  in  sacrifice.  It  is  absolutely  the  only 
way  in  which  it  can  be  effectively  and  thoroughly  propagated.  "I 
am  among  you  as  one  that  serveth."  "The  Son  of  Man  came  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life  a  ran- 
som for  many."  He  that  saveth  his  life  shall  lose  it,  and  he  that 
looseth  his  life  for  ^Iv  sake,  the  same  shall  find  it."     The  chief 


I4t  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

business  of  the  Saviour  was  to  give  away  His  life,  and  it  is  as 
really  the  chief  business  of  every  one  of  his  faithful  disciples. 

There  is  one  thing-  jx-rfectly  sure ;  those  who  go  as  our  repre- 
sentatives out  into  heathen  lands  must  make  very  real  sacrifices. 
Do  you  think  God  w^ants  them  to  have  all  the  sacrifices  of  this 
enterprise?  Some  of  them  have  been  for  many  months  absolutely 
alone,  with  no  one  near  to  whom  they  could  converse  in  their  own 
language.  To  be  ten  thousand  miles  away  when  sickness  and 
death  come  into  the  old  family  circle  in  the  homeland,  with  all 
letters  four  weeks  old,  would  test  your  loyalty  to  Christ  a  good 
deal  more  than  the  money  you  now  give  to  promote  missionary 
work.  The  fact  is  that  the  cheapest  thing  yon  can  give  is  money. 
My  friend,  ]\Ir.  Hotchkiss.  went  out  to  evangelize  a  tribe  of  naked 
.savages  in  Central  Africa.  They  threatened  him  with  death,  and 
tried  to  starve  him  out,  and  he  was  brought  to  death's  door  time 
a,fter  time  with  the  terrible  African  fever,  in  addition  to  many  hair- 
breadth escapes  from  wild  beasts.  He  raised  some  wheat  most 
carefully  that  he  might  have  bread.  After  great  pains,  he  thresh- 
ed and  cleaned  enough  for  a  year's  supply  of  bread.  But  famine 
broke  out  among  the  people  he  had  gone  to  evangelize,  and  to  save 
their  lives,  he  began  to  supply  them  from  his  own  granary,  and 
ke])t  on  until  all  was  gone.  For  twelve  months  he  got  along  with- 
out bread,  rather  than  have  it  at  the  cost  of  other  people's  lives. 
How  many  luxuries,  to  say  nothing  of  necessities,  have  you  denied 
yourself  to  give  to  others  the  spiritual  bread  for  Avhich  they  arc 
starving?     The  cheapest  thing  vou  can  give  is  monev. 

On  his  way  out  to  China,  my  friend,  Horace  Pitkin,  and  his 
young  wife  stopped  at  our  home  in  Calcutta  for  several  days.  He 
was  in  I'oa-ting-fu  when  the  Boxer  rebellion  broke  out,  his  wife 
and  only  child  having  returned  to  America  only  a  few  months  be- 
fore, little  dreaming  of  the  baptism  of  blood  through  which  the 
Chinese  Church  was  to  pass.  As  the  cruel  Boxers  surrounded 
Pitkin's  house,  he  had  time  to  send  a  message  to  his  wife  before 
they  cut  off  his  head.  .And  the  message  was  this:  "Tell  my  wife 
that  when  our  boy  l)ecomes  a  man,  f  want  him  to  come  out  to 
China  and  take  my  ])lace."  There  isn't  a  man  of  you  here  who 
would  not  have  gladly  given  his  last  dollar  to  missions,  rather  than 
have  stood  in  Pitkin's  place  that  day.  1dic  cheapest  thing  you  can 
give  is  nione\-. 

Cod  looks  not  only  at  what  we  give.  Init  chiefly  at  what  we 
give  nf^.  for  Mis  sakr.  The  test  of  our  love  is  not  so  much  how 
much  we  give,  as  how  nuicli  we  have  left. 


GRIvATlvST    BUSINESS    IN   TlIIv   WORLD.  145 

It  is  wonderful  what  the  practical  application  of  this  principle 
will  accomplish.  We  have  a  congregation  on  the  Pacific  Coast, 
at  Santa  Anna,  that  has  begun  to  illustrate  it.  A  few  years  ago, 
they  thought  $ioo  a  year  to  missions  was  about  "all  they  could  do. 
By  education  and  system,  this  has  steadily  grown  until  last  year 
they  gave  nearly  $800.  But  still  they  were  not  satisfied  to  leave 
the  appeals  from  our  mission  fields  go  unanswered.  Their  pastor 
asked  them  to  make  some  sacrifices  in  order  to. give  more,  and  a 
paper  was  handed  around  to  see  what  people  were  willing  to  do. 
The  result  was  that  enough  was  secured  to  support  a  missionary. 
Word  was  sent  to  the  Board,  asking  that  some  missionary  be 
assigned  to  them.  The  Board  replied  that  no  one  was  then  in 
sight  to  appoint.  Some  would  have  given  it  up  at  this  point,  but 
the  rest  of  the  story  is  the  best  part  of  it.  The  pastor  preached 
a  sermon  calling  for  someone  to  volunteer  to  go  as  the  congre- 
gation's representative.  And  one  of  the  persons  who  had  made 
her  subscription  to  this  fund  to  send  someone  else,  now  heard 
God's  call  to  go.  She  is  to-day  in  the  Moody  Bible  Institute  in 
Chicago  preparing  for  a  life  of  missionary  service.  Thus  out  of 
a  little  congregation  of  less  than  200  members,  in  addition  to  pay- 
ing their  quota,  they  are  supporting  one  of  their  own  number  as 
theiiv representative  cut  of  their  voluntary  sacrifices. 

A  few  weeks  ago,  at  the  close  of  a  service  in  one  of  our  Church- 
es, the  pastor  said  to  me,  "Do  you  remember  that  old  lady  I  intro- 
duced you  to?"  I  said,  "Yes."  He  said,  "She  is  seventy-five 
years  old,  and  she  is  very  poor,  she  often  walks  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  to  Church  instead  of  coming  on  the  street  car,  in  order  that 
she  may  bring  the  last  nickel  in  her  possession  as  an  offering  to 
the  Lord.  A  while  ago,"  he  said,  "a  man  gave  me  a  dollar  to  give 
to  somebody  who  was  poor,  and  I  could  not  think  of  anybody  of 
my  acquaintance  who  was  poorer  than  she,  so  I  went  and  gave  it 
to  her.  And  what  do  you  suppose  ?  On  the  next  Sabbath  day  she 
brought  the  whole  dollar  back  as  a  thank-offering  and  put  it  into 
the  collection." 

There  is  an  old  colored  woman  up  in  Cleveland,  a  member  of  a 
Baptist  church  there,  who  was  born  a  slave,  and  cannot  read 
a  word  in  any  language,  and  hasn't  a  penny  that  she  doesn't 
earn  over  the  wash-tub.  But  she  gives  fifty  dollars  a  year 
through  that  Church  to  Foreign  Missions  alone,  in  addition 
to   considerable   amounts   to   other   objects.  ITcr   ])astor   was 

talking   to    her   about   it   one    day,    and    she    said:     "You    don't 
know    the    jov    I    have   in    gi\ing    to    Christ.       Often    as    I    am 


146  FORKIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEIE    CONVENTION. 

working  over  the  washtub  and  the  drops  of  sweat  fall  down 
into  the  soap-suds  before  me,  they  suggest  to  me  the  jewels 
I  am  laying  up  in  the  presence  of  the  Master  by  the  service!  am 
able  to  render  in  this  way."  I  wonder  how  many  of  us  are  giving 
as  much  as  the  poor  old  ex-slave  for  the  redemption  of  people  in 
spiritual  bondage. 

It  was  this  kind  of  spirit  that  actuated  William  Carey  when  he 
went  out  to  India  on  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars.  He  saw 
so  much  need  around  him  that  he  couldn't  spend  it  all,  and  he 
managed  to  live  on  one-half  of  it  and  gave  back  the  other  half  to 
the  propagation  of  the  Gospel.  It  was  only  a  few  years  until  the 
Government  gave  him  a  position  at  $7,500  a  year,  in  a  professor- 
ship in  the  Oriental  College  at  Calcutta.  He  still  continued  to  live 
on  $250  a  year  and  gave  the  rest  of  his  income  back  to  God  for  the 
salvation  of  poor  men  and  women  around  him.  During  the  forty 
years  of  his  life  in  India,  he  was  not  only  able  to  do  a  full  man's 
work,  but  was  able  to  turn  back  into  the  treasury  of  God  in  cash, 
out  of  his  sacrifices,  the  magnificient  sum  oof  $230,000. 

Dr.  John  G.  Paton,  whose  life  many  of  you  have  read,  wrote  a 
book  that  has  sold  all  over  the  world,  and  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars  came  in  as  the  profits  on  that  book.  He  might  have 
bought  a  fine  house,  and  got  an  automobile  and  gone  around  run- 
ning over  people  and  having  a  good  time  generally,  as  many  others 
do  who  are  blessed  with  money!  But  what  did  he  do  with  it? 
The  w^hole  hundred  thousand  dollars  went  back  into  the  salvation 
of  the  cannibals  for  whom  already  he  had  given  his  life.  Tell  me, 
would  anything  but  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  have  inspired  these 
sacrifices?  Tell  me,  you  men  here  to-night,  how  far,  by  this  test, 
have  you  and  I  entered  into  the  spirit  of  our.  Master? 

T  sat  listening  to  a  minister  in  Washington  two  weeks  ago,  who 
said  that  in  going  over  the  mountains  on  a  train  on  a  bitterly  cold 
night,  rushing  down  grade  at  a  terrific  speed,  all  at  once  the  air 
brakes  were  applied  with  such  force  that  everybody  was  nearly 
thrown  out  of  his  seat,  and  very  quickly  the  train  came  to  a  dead 
stop.  Then,  in  the  cold,  blustering  night,  a  few  of  them  got  out 
with  the  engineer  and  conductor  and  went  forward  to  where  the 
man  was  with  the  lantern  who  had  stopped  the  train,  to  see  what 
was  the^  matter.  They  found  that  in  the  intense  cold  a  rail  had 
broken  just  at  one  of  the  sharpest  curves.  As  the  engineer  looked 
at  the  conductor  and  the  train  with  two  hundred  and  fifty  souls 
on  board,  he  said  to  him,  "If  we  had  struck  that  curve  at  the  rate 
we  were  going,  it  woukl  have  been  moving-dav  for  us  all."     And 


gre:atest  busine;ss  in  run  world.  147 

the  old  night-watchman,  at  a  dollar  and  sixty  cents  a  day,  all 
bundled  up  in  the  cold,  and  with  frost  all  around  over  his  whisk- 
ers, said,  "Yes,  and  if  I  hadn't  got  here  fifteen  minutes  ahead  of 
time,  you  never  would  have  known  that  the  break  was  there.  I 
was  afraid  of  this  curve,  and  I  came  early  that  I  might  get  here 
before  the  train." 

When  men  and  women  are  rushing  forward  in  terrible  peril  to 
their  eternal  doom,  it  is  an  awful  thing  to  be  even  one  minute  too 
late.  I  would  rather  belong  to  a  Church  that  undertakes,  in  the 
strength  of  God,  to  be  fifteen  minutes  ahead  of  time,  rather  than 
five  minutes  too  late.  I  want  you,  my  brother  men,  to  bear  in 
mind  that  every  year,  five  hundred  thousand  people  in  our  own 
mission  lands  die  in  ignorance  of  Jesus  Christ,  a  number  equiva- 
lent to  the  entire  membership  and  field  of  our  Church  in  this  land. 
What  does  that  mean  to  them  ?  What  does  it  mean  to  Him  who 
for  their  sakes  laid  down  His  hfe?  What  does  it  mean  to  me? 
What  would  it  mean  to  me  if  I  were  in  the  place  of  the  man  who 
lives  like  a  beast  and  dies  like  a  dog?  Has  not  the  time  come, 
after  fifty  years  of  experience,  with  open  fields  that  we  are  capable 
of  evangelizing  by  giving  an  average  of  sixteen  cents  a  week,  has 
not  the  time  come  when  the  business  men  of  our  Church  should 
rise  up  in  their  might,  and,  under  the  leadership  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  organize  a  campaign  which  will  mean  speedy  and  complete 
victory?     If  we  have  the  spirit  of  soldiers,  that  is  what  we  will  do. 

I  was  reading  the  other  day  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  the 
story  of  the  commander  of  one  of  the  five  or  six  Japanese  vessels 
which  went  into  the  harbor  of  Port  Arthur  to  attempt  to  block  that 
channel.  The  Admiral  had  called  them  together  the  night  before 
and  said  to  them,  "I  congratulate  you,  men,  that  you  are  permitted 
to  lay  down  your  lives  for  your  country.  You  are  going  on  a 
magnificent  expedition,  and  we  never  expect  to  see  you  back. 
But  you  are  going  to  save  our  country's  honor  and  our  country's 
freedom."  And  they  sent  word  around,  with  that  kind  of  an  ex- 
planation, among  the  vessels,  and  asked  for  twenty-seven  volun- 
teers to  carry  those  boats  into  that  harbor,  and  before  morning 
two  thounsand  men  had  came  forward  sa}'ing:  "Give  us  the 
privilege  of  going  to  death  for  the  sake. of  Japan."  And  many  of 
them,  in  the  intensity  of  their  desire  to  go,  had  bitten  ofif  a  finger 
in  order  to  write  in  their  own  blood  the  petition  asking  for  the 
privilege  of  going.  Two  thousand  volunteered  when  only 
twenty-seven  were  wanted !  And  will  we  allow  men,  for  national 
honor  and  glorv,  to  make  sacrifices  that  vou  and  I  are  not  willing 


148  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILI^E    CONVENTION. 

to  make  for  Jesus  Christ  and  the  redemption  of  all  the  world  ? 

When  Christ  gave  us  this  work  to  do,  He  also  gave  us  a  motive 
that  should  move  us  even  if  nothing  else  would.  He  said,  "Inas- 
much as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  Me." 

A  few  years  ago  a  boat  was  lost  off  the  Northwest  coast  of  Ire- 
land, in  one  of  the  storms  that  visit  that  sea.  Almost  instantly  out 
from  the  shore  a  life-saving  crew  went  to  the  rescue  of  those  who 
were  perishing.  They  reached  the  scene  of  the  wreck  and  gather- 
ed up  one  after  another  into  the  life-boat  and  started  back,  think- 
ing they  had  secured  them  all.  P>ut  after  they  had  gone  a  little  way, 
someone  saw  a  man  drifting  out  to  sea  on  a  broken  piece  of  the 
vessel.  They  said,  "We  must  go  for  him."  The  sailors,  with  one 
glance  at  the  boat,  said,  "No,  we  are  already  overladen,  we  will 
go  to  shore  and  come  back  again  for  him."  They  got  safely  to 
shore  and  were  turning  again  to  go  after  that  one  last  man,  but 
as  they  turned  to  face  the  sea,  it  had  increased  so  much  in  fury 
that  even  those  brave  Irishmen  turned  away  from  it,  saying,  "It 
is  courting  death  to  go  out  on  a  sea  like  that,  we  had  better  leave 
that  man  to  the  mercy  of  (jod."  And  they  were  just  turning  to 
seek  shelter  from  the  storm,  but  one  young  man  stood  still,  and 
as  they  stopped  to  see  what  he  meant,  he  said,  "If  anybody  will 
go  with  me  to  help  with  this  boat,  we  will  go  and  see  what  we  can 
do,  anyhow."  His  old  grayheaded  mother  overheard  his  state- 
ment and,  rushing  forward,  she  flung  her  arms  around  his  neck, 
begging  him  not  to  go.  "You  know  very  well,"  she  said,  "how 
your  father  was  lost  at  sea.  And  two  years  ago  your  brother  Wil- 
liam went  to  sea  and  we  have  never  heard  from  him  since ;  he  has 
been  lost,  too.  And  now  if  you  go,  my  last  and  only  support  in 
my  old  age  will  be  lost,  and  I  will  be  left  alone  and  helpless."  If 
anything  could  have  kept  him  back,  it  would  have  been  his 
mother's  passionate  and  tearful  appeal.  But,  putting  her  arms 
tenderly  from  his  neck  and  kissing  her  goodbye,  he  tried  to  com- 
fort her  with  the  thought  that  God  was  there  in  the  storm  as  well 
as  here  in  the  calm,  and  with  another  young  fellow,  who  bravely 
volunteered,  they  went  out  on  that  perilous  voyage.  They  were 
lost  sight  of  very  quickly  in  the  mist  nud  haze,  but  every  eye  was 
intent  in  that  direction  for  the  first  glimpse  of  their  return.  Fin- 
ally they  were  rejoiced  at  seeing  the  boat  coming  back,  but  they 
were  not  yet  able  to  discern  whether  the  third  man  had  been  found, 
the  man  for  whom  the  others  had  risked  their  lives.  So  they 
called   out   to   them    the   question,   through    a   speaking-trumpet. 


GKKATKST    BUSINESS    I X    THE    WORLD.  149 

"Have  you  found  him  ?"  And  over  the  angary  storm  the  answer 
came  back:  "Yes,  we've  found  him,  and  tell  mother  it's  brother 
William  that  we've  saved !" 

Our  elder  brother,  the  Saviour  of  men,  not  only  risked  His  life, 
He  poured  it  <iut  to  the  death,  that  He  might  make  us  and  call  us, 
His  brethren.  And  now,  to  give  us  motive  enough,  if  need  be,  to 
lay  down  even  our  life  to  rescue  other  perishing  brother-men,  He 
says  to  us.  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  these  least, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  Me."  What  will  each  one  of  us  do,  or  bear, 
that  we  may  "gain  for  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  the  reward  of  His 
sufferings?" 


CONFERENCE 
Following    Mr.    J.    Campbell    White's    Address. 

In  opening  this  Conference,  the  Chairman,  ]\Ir.  A.  P.  Biirch- 
field,  said : 

After  the  earnest  address  of  this  evening,  we  are  now  ready  for 
the  Conference.  We  will  have  fifteen  minutes  for  that  and  we 
would  like  to  have  just  as  many  short  speeches  as  we  can  have. 
Let  them  be  terse  and  to  the  point. 

For  myself  I  want  to  say  that  when  Mr.  Watson  sent  me  tht 
statement  that  he  wanted  a  business  men's  meeting  in  this  conven- 
tion and  asked  me  to  preside,  I  sat  down  and  commenced  to  think 
and  my  thought  took  the  direction  of  asking  why  was  this  meeting 
planned.  And  there  could  be  only  one  conclusion  that  anyone 
could  come  to  and  that  was  that  the  laymen  of  the  Church  needed 
to  be  stirred  up.  And  then  it  became  personal  and  my  thought 
was,  what  is  your  obligation?     Have  you  met  your  obligation? 

And  now,  my  brother,  it  is  for  you  and  me  to  sit  down  quietly 
and  think,  think  it  out,  think  through  it,  think  all  around  it,  and 
then  say,  Am  I  doing  my  duty  as  the  Lord  expects  me  to  do  it? 
What  is  the  limit  of  my  obligation  ?  Is  it  the  limit  of  what  the 
Lord  is  prospering  me  with  ?  I  am  not  going  to  put  it  at  the 
tenth.  That  is  the  smallest  limit  that  any  Christian  should  put 
down  to  his  beneficence  to  the  Church.  It  is  his  duty  to  give  at 
least  a  tenth  of  what  the  Lord  puts  in  his  hand,  for  it  is  not  yours 
and  it  is  not  mine,  it  is  God's. 

And  then  when  you  come  to  think  al)0ut  the  obligation  of  why 
you  live,  why  God  has  ])ut  you  here  on  this  footstool  at  this 
present  time,  it  is  to  do  what  God  plans  that  you  should  do. 
"S'ou  are  not  merely  a  factor,  but  you  are  working  out  God's  pur- 
]Kjse,  and  to  llim  we  are  accountable,  whether  we  work  that  pur- 
pose out  right  or  wrong. 

And  that  brings  us  back  to  what  w^e  started  with.  It  is 
thought.  We  must  think.  What  is  our  obligation  to  Almighty 
God  ?  And  then  we  must  ask  God  for  grace  to  see  that  we  carry 
it  out. 

150 


layme:n's  confkrdnce;  on  foreign  missions.  151 

Now  I  hope  that  we  will  have  some  few  remarks  from  other 
laymen  in  the  meeting. 

Mr.  \Vm.  Little,  Marissa,  111. :  It  appears  to  me  that  if  there  is 
a  religious  denomination  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  that  ought 
to  be  a  missionary  church,  it  is  the  United  Presbyterian  Church. 
A  church  that  sings  in  all  its  worship  David's  Psalms  ought  to  be 
a  missionary  Church  and  a  foreign  missionary  Church  at  that.  I 
believe  it  was  given  to  David  more  than  to  any  of  the  other  pro- 
phets of  old  to  look  in  vision  down  into  the  future  and  see  the 
glory  of  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  could  see  the  little  hand- 
ful of  corn  sowed  on  the  hills  of  Palestine  increase  and  grow  till 
the  earth  shook  with  the  mighty  hosts  of  God's  redeemed.  He 
could  look  down  for  thirty  centuries  and  see  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church  at  work  in  Egypt  and  in  India  under  the  leadership 
and  management  of  Dr.  Giffen,  in  the  Sudan,  the  Cush  or  Ethiopia 
of  the  87th  Psalm. 

What  are  we  here  for?  What  brought  us  here?  Why  are  we 
in  the  Christian  Church  ?  We  are  not  of  the  stock  of  Abraham. 
We  are  of  an  ancestry  that  were  Gentiles,  an  ancestry  that  got 
its  salvation  from  the  foreign  missionary.  As  a  matter  of  grati- 
tude we  ought  to  be  missionaries  in  every  phase  of  our  lives. 

I  jjave  been  examining  the  statistics  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church  somewhat  of  late  and  I  am  satisfied  there  are  not 
less  than  375  congregations  out  of  nearly  a  thousand  of  our 
denomination  that  could  support  a  missionary  and  his  wife  and  pay 
them  a  salary  of  $1200  a  year  and  carry  on  the  work  they  are  now 
doing  and  never  feel  it,  if  there  was  a  proper  consecration  of  the 
money  in  the  pockets  of  the  people  of  those  congregations.  We 
are  not  meeting  our  obligations,  we  are  not  trying  to  and  I  believe 
that  this  movement  to-night,  the  movement  tliat  has  culminated  in 
this  Jubilee  Convention,  is  a  crisis  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  and  that  we  are  to  push  forward  farther  and  more  rapidly 
than  we  have  ever  done.  I  think  our  good  brother,  Campbell 
White,  struck  the  center  of  the  target  when  he  said  that  the  grace 
of  giving  is  the  most  educating  and  uplifting  grace  that  God  has 
granted  us.  We  have  not  practiced  it  enough  to  realize  that  it  is 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.  We  have  lived  like  the  old 
farmer  who  prayed  that  the  Lord  would  bless  him  and  his  wife,  his 
son  John  and  his  wife,  "us  four  and  no  more."  That  is  the  way  we 
have  lived.  Dr.  Patterson,  of  Princeton,  Ind.,  was  sent  to  the 
Presbytery  of  Southern  Illinois  to  work  this  movement  up.  He 
did  it  most  grandly.       He  came  into  our  congregation  one  night. 


152  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE)    CONVENTION. 

If  you  ever  saw  men  and  women  hang  their  heads  and  look  sneak- 
ing-, you  would  see  them  there.  I  met  a  brother  the  next  morning 
and  I  said  to  him  "What  is  the  matter?"  "Don't  talk  to  me," 
he  said.  "I  was  mad  last  night.  Rut  the  Dr.  told  us  the  truth. 
I  told  my  wife  when  I  went  home  that  it  was  not  true.  Wc  sat 
down  when  we  went  home  and  got  out  pencil  and  paper  and  got 
down  to  figures.  The  Dr.  was  right.  I  feel  mean  this  morning, 
and  don't  you  say  very  much  to  me  about  it.'' 

I  met  another  on  the  street.  "What  do  you  think  of  it,"  I  said. 
Said  he,  "I  have  been  giving  a  hundred  dollars  to  missions.  I 
just  saw  one  of  the  members  of  our  committee  ji  little  while  ago- 
and  I  told  him  I  had  a  check  for  another  hundred  whenever  they 
saw  fit  to  call  for  it." 

And  I  believe  this  movement  all  through  the  Church  will 
increase  until  the  garner  will  be  filled.  And  let  us  increase  the 
spirit  of  giving  among  our  young  people.  What  a  glorious  spirit 
it  is.     It  is  manifest  in  the  gift  of  God's  Son  to  the  world. 

For  the  heart  grows  rich  in  tlie  giving. 

All  its  wealth  is  loving  gain. 

The  seed  that  mildews  in  the  garner 

When  scattered  fills  with  gold  the  plain. 

Give  strength,  give  thought,  give  deeds,  give  pelf, 

Give  love,  give  tears,  and  give  thyself. 

Give,  give.     Be  always  giving. 

Who  gives  not  is  not  living. 

The  more  we  give,  the  more  we  live. 

Mr.  1).  T.  Reed,  Pittsburg,  Pa.:  Sixteen  cents  a  week!  The 
question  has  been  asked.  Is  this  thing  visionary?  Now,  I  believe 
that  it  is  more  visionary  to  think  that  we  cannot  raise  sixteen  cents 
a  week.  I  believe  that  it  is  possible  for  a  poor  person  to  give  this 
amount  of  money  for  this  reason,  that  God  will  pay  a  man  back 
more  than  he  gives.  We  have  this  promise  which  you  can  all  recall 
in  Malachi,  that  if  we  perform  a  certain  duty  God  will  open  the 
windows  of  Pleaven  and  pour  out  a  blessing.  And  further  he  says 
that  lid  "will  rebuke  the  devourer."  And  that  splendid  word  of 
Paul,  "(lod  is  al)lc  to  make  all  grace  abound  toward  you."  and 
so  on, —  I  cannot  recall  that  passage  accurately  but  you  will  all  be 
able  to  help  nic  out  in  your  minds.  "That  yc  may  abound  to  every 
good  work." 

But  this  (|uestii)n  is  not  one  of  ability.  1  appeal  to  vour  exper- 
ience if  it  is  not  rather  a  question  of  filling  the  measure  of  our 
i-esponsibility  or  a  question  of  our  interest.  And  the  question 
comes  up  here,  how  can  we  get  to  fill  our  responsibility?     And 


layman's   CONF'ERKNCI^    on    FORlvIGN    MISSIONS.  153 

I  would  suggest,  as  has  been  suggested  before,  that  we  look 
back  to  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ.  Just  look  at  llim  as  lie 
wept  over  Jerusalem ;  and  as  we  dwell  upon  that  scene,  will 
not  our  hearts  go  out  in  love  and  joy  as  we  look  on  Jesus 
Christ  and  hear  llis  words  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  can  we  not 
get  some  idea  of  His  purpose  to  help  others  than  the  Jews. 
And  when  we  look  at  the  Spirit's  direction  to  Philip  that  he 
should  go  and  instruct  the  Ethiopian  eunuch.  I  am  sure  that  we 
will  be  persuaded  that  God  means  to  help  others.  And  then  God's 
commission  to  Paul  to  carry  his  name  among  the  Gentiles.  We 
need  not  question  our  responsibility  to  help  all  men. 

Now  if  we  look  back  at  Jesus  Christ  in  His  humility  and  His 
self-sacrifice,  we  shall  be  helped  in  this  spirit.  His  love  should 
inspire  us.  To  illustrate,  a  young  man  came  to  our  Church  a  few 
years  ago.  He  was  a  printer  by  trade.  There  was  nothing 
about  him  that  I  saw  to  attract  one  especially.  But  one  day  a 
missionary  came  into  the  Church  and  made  an  appeal  for  China. 
The  young  man  said,  "I  feel  that  if  the  Lord  opens  up  the  way 
I  will  go  to  China."  And  so  he  is  there  to-day.  And  I  hear  about 
how  he  is  living  on  rice  and  chicken  and  condensed  cream  and 
hardly  anything  else.  Think  of  his  sacrifice,  how  he  cannot  go 
out  at  night  because  he  cannot  find  his  way  back  in  the  darkness 
in  those  streets.  He  lives  on  next  to  nothing.  When  we  look  at 
a  case  of  that  kind  our  hearts  are  going  out  to  them,  if  we  know 
these  people.  And  I  tell  you,  if  you  have  a  friend  of  that  kind, 
you  had  better  cultivate  his  acquaintance  because  he  will  be  a 
wonderful  inspiration  to  you.  And  especially,  if  he  tells  you  he 
prays  every  day  for  you,  your  heart  will  go  out  to  him  and  you 
will  be  able  to  do  more. 

•  I  feel  that  Mr.  White  has  laid  something  upon  my  conscience  to- 
night and  upon  yours.  Now  let  us  see  to  it  that  we  do  iu)t  neglect 
these  convictions  that  are  given  to  us.  If  we  follow  the  leadings 
of  our  convictions  there  will  be  a  great  blessing  come  upon  others 
through  us. 

Mr.  J.  J.  Porti:r.  Pittsburg,  Pa. :  Mr.  Chairman,  after  the 
magnificent  address  we  have  had  to-night.  I  feel  like  offering  a 
sentiment  for  this  meeting:  May  we  everyone  here  present  to- 
night live  to  see  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  strong  enough 
numerically,  spiritually  and  financially,  to  give  a  million  dollars  a 
year  to  foreign  missions  and  a  proportionate  amount  to  every 
other  department  of  the  Church's  work. 

To  my  mind,  there  are  just  two  things  that  men  can  give,  that 


154  FOREIGN    MISSIOXARY    JUBILEE)    CONVENTION. 

the  Church  can  use  to-night,  that  is,  men  and  money.  If  we  had 
the  milhon  dollars  to-night,  have  we  the  men  and  the  women  to 
go?  If  we  have  the  men  and  the  women  to  go  I  believe,  yes,  I 
know  that  God  in  answer  to  prayer  would  give  sufficient  conse- 
cration to  raise  the  money.  What  we  need  that  men  can  give  is 
workers,  the  men  and  the  women  that  do  the  work.  How  will  we 
get  them? 

First  we  must  begin  in  the  home,  with  the  mothers  and  fathers, 
teach  the  sons  and  daughters  that  the  most  satisfying  work,  the 
most  enduring  work,  the  noblest  work,  the  grandest  work  in  the 
world,  is  the  work  of  saving  souls,  especially  in  the  Gospel 
ministry. 

Secondly,  take  our  educational  institutions  or  seminaries,  our 
denominational  scliools  and  colleges  and  make  them  what  they 
should  be.  Look  at  all  the  noted  men  and  women  who  on  a 
meager  equipment  and  paltry  salary,  do  such  magnificent  work 
for  the  Church  and  for  God !  Give  to  Westminster,  to  Mon- 
mouth, to  Tarkio,  to  Cooper,  and  to  those  other  noble  institutions, 
better  equipment  and  more  of  it,  better  professors  and  more  of 
them,  so  that  they  wull  satisfy  the  very  best  of  our  Church  and  then 
we  shall  have  the  men  that  we  expect  to  see  coming  from  these 
institutions,  cultivated,  Christian,  Spirit-filled  United  Presbyterian 
young  men  and  women,  fit  for  the  Master's  use,  ready  to  go 
forth  to  do  the  work  that  God  gives  them  to  do  at  home  and 
abroad. 

Thirdly,  let  our  schools  in  Egypt  and  India  become  what  they 
should  be.  Give  them  groimds,  buildings,  equipment,  teachers  to 
command  the  very  best  peo])lc  over  there  and  you  will  get 
them  to  be  self-sui)porting  from  the  start,  and  you  will  get  into 
homes  and  families  and  individuals  that  you  can  reach  in  no  other 
way,  and  then  we  shall  have  workers  that  will  go  forth  in  these 
foreign  fields  and  be  more  effective  for  God  in  the  daily  work  of 
life  than  anybody  we  could  send  from  here.  We  must  keep  on 
sending  teachers,  but  develop  these  schools,  and  the  question  will 
1)C  sfilvcd  and  my  toast  will  l)e  answered:  A  million  dollars  a  vear 
for  foreign  missions,  and  a  pro])ortionate  amount  for  the  other' 
work  of  the  Church. 

Mr.  T.  J.  G]i.i.i:si'ii:,  I'ittsburg,  Pa.:  I  suspect  that  when  Mr. 
White  spoke  to-night  and  presented  his  figures  he  took  the  breath 
away  from  some  of  us.  lie  made  a  magnificent  presentation  of 
the  work  tn  be  done,  and  he  aimed  very  high.  The  troul)le  with 
high  aiming  sometimes  is  that  you  shoot  over  the  heads  of  the 


laymen's  coxfrricnce:  on  foreign  missions.  155 

people,  and  I  suspect  that  this  went  over  the  heads  of  some  of  us. 

I  would  like  to  come  down  a  little.  I  hesitate  to  speak  after 
such  a  magnificent  address  at  all,  because  there  is  difficulty  in  com- 
ing- down  to  every  day,  common  affairs.  Yet  it  seems  to  me  that 
we  have  to  get  down  to  the  place  where  we  live.  And  what  I 
want  to  say  is  something  that  will  hit  you  and  myself  and  will 
not  go  over  our  heads. 

I  suspect  that  a  good  many  of  us  are  saying  something  like  this : 
^'Oh,  yes ;    I  believe  that  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  could 
raise  that  million  of  dollars  if  its  rich  men  would  give  as  much 
as  they  ought  to  give."     And  as  you  and  I  do  not  put  ourselves  in 
that  category,  it  does  not  hit  us  at  all.      Now,  I  want  to  say  that 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church  can  raise  that  million  dollars  only 
when  everybody,  rich  and  poor,  gives  his  proportion  to  this  work. 
There  are  only  a  very  few  rich  men  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  what  we  want  is  more  men  and  women  consecrated 
in  heart  and  consecrated  in  pocketbook,  and  then  we  will  raise  the 
money.      But  don't  let  us  put  it  off  on  someone  else.      Don't  let 
us  pick  out  the  man  in  our  congregation  and  say  if  so  and  so 
would  give  as  he  could  afford  he  would  send  out  a  missionary,  and 
then  satisfy  ourselves  with  what  we  are  doing.     As  we  look  over 
the  Ciiurch,  let  us  remember  that  there  are  comparatively  few  very 
poor  people  in  our  churches.      The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  has 
such  an  uplifting  effect  that  you  do  not  have  the  men  as  a  rule  that 
are  down  in  the  slums.      The  gospel  has  lifted  them  out  of  the 
slums,  as  a  rule.      And  when  we  want  to  get  men  out  of  the 
slums  we  go  down  to  them  with  the  Gospel  and  they  are  soon  out 
of  that  neighborhood.     But  the  people  of  our  Church — you  and 
I.  that  means,  my  brother — you  and  I  want  to  get  our  standard  of 
giving  raised  higher.      Do  not  let  us  apply  this  to  somebody  else 
so  much  as  get  it  right  home  and  see  what  we  ourselves  can  do,  as 
individuals  and  in  our  congregations,  to  uplift  the  standard  of 
giving,  to  uplift  the  standard  of  consecration  to  the  work  of  the 
Lord.     When  this  matter  was  talked  about  some  one  said  it  would 
be  a  mistake  to  let  this  ocasion  pass  without  something  of  a  for- 
ward movement  toward  larger  things  in  the  way  of  giving,  and 
my  answer  is,  that  it  would  be  almost  criminal  if  we  did  not  take 
some  measure  to  reach  our  congregations  and  lift  up  the  standard 
of  giving  for  the  work  of  God  abroad  and  for  the  work  of  God 
at  home. 

j\Ir.  Samuel  Young,  Pittsburg,  Pa. :     Christian  brethren,  hear- 
ing what  we  have  heard  to-night,  and  feeling,  as  I  am  convinced 


16G  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUDILElv    CONVENTION. 

wc  feel  to-night,  after  this  inspiring  word  picture  of  the  great 
work  of  the  Church  in  tlie  future,  the  hope  of  the  Church  for  the 
future  and  what  it  is  possible  for  the  Church  to  do  in  the  future, 
it  seems  to  me  eminently  fitting  that  this  great  convention  of 
Christian  men  should  take  some  definite  action  in  answer  to  the 
call  of  God  that  has  come  to  us  by  the  mouth  of  his  servant  this 
evening.      I  therefore  ask  permission  to  su])mit  the  following: 

"Inasmuch  as  the  present  opportunities  before  our  Church  for 
large  missionary  activity  demand  a  far  greater  and  more  liberal 
response  than  has  heretofore  been  given ;    and 

"Whereas,  We  believe  that  our  Church  is  abundantly  able  to 
meet  these  needs  fully,  if  it  can  only  be  aroused  to  realize  how 
great  are  the  issues  involved ;   therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  this  lUisiness  Men's  Meeting,  through  its  chair- 
man, appoint  a  committee  of  seven  men  to  consider  the  best  form 
in  which  to  give  effectiveness  and  permanence  to  a  forward  mis- 
sionary movement,  and  ask  this  committee  to  report  at  the  closing 
meeting  of  the  convention  to-morrow  evening." 

The  Chairman  :  ■  You  have  heard  this  resolution,  what  is  your 
will  ? 

Mr.  W.  S.  Heade,  Cambridge,  O. :  I  wish  to  have  the  honor  of 
seconding  the  motion  that  has  just  been  made  by  my  brother.  It 
seems  to  me  to  be  a  work  of  supererogation  to  say  anything  in 
support  of  the  resolution.  I  cannot  conceive  that  anyone  in  this 
presence  to-night  could  be  opposed  to  it.  We  want,  to-night, 
certainly,  to  crystallize  these  burning  words  that  have  come  from 
our  brother  and  go  back  to  our  congregations  and  try  to  get  them 
up  to  that  spiritual  uplift  that  we  have  had  here  to-night. 

Brother  White  has  been  with  us  and  I  must  admit  that  when  he 
came  into  our  pulpit  and  told  us  what  we  had  done  (I  had  never 
examined  it  very  carefully  before),  I  was  very  sorry  that  there 
was  not  a  knot  hole  so  that  I  could  go  through  the  floor..  The 
probability  is  that  brother  White  will  be  around  in  your  congrega- 
tion some  time  and  you  had  better  begin  to  figure  up  and  see  where 
you  are.  Brethren,  we  do  not  work  enough.  The  fact  is  that  our 
pocketbooks  are  not  consecrated  or  educated  to  giving  as  they 
should  be.  And  we  want  not  only  to  give  ourselves,  but  w  c  want 
to  go  back  to  our  congregations  and,  by  our  giving  and  1)\  our 
teaching,  and  by  our  exani])lc.  to  convince  them  that  we  have  the 
missionary  spirit  which  should  jxTvadr  the  whole  Church. 

I  am  thankful  that  I  belong  to  a  Church  where  the  giving  of 
the  tithe  is  prominent.  And  yet.  when  I  come  to  think  of  it,  I 
feel  that  I  have  given  nothing  in  conii)aris()n  with  tliat  wliich  God 


laymi^n's  confivRExce  on  forivIGN  missions.  J 57 

has  given  to  me.  When  I  think  of  the  gifts  that  have  been  show- 
<  red  n])on  mc,  I  feel  mean  to  think  that  I  have  sat  down  and  vir- 
tually said  that  I  have  done  all  that  I  need  to  do,  when  I  have 
given  a  tenth.  And  I  pledge  this  convention  that,  under  these 
burning'  words,  I  shall  try  to  consecrate  my  pocketbook  so  that 
there  may  more  of  it  go  into  the  Mission  Boards  of  the  Church. 

(The  resolution  as  read  being  put  to  the  vote  of  the  Convention 
was  duly  carried.) 

The  Chairman  :  The  hour  has  about  arrived,  or  is  fully 
arrived,  when  we  should  close  this  meeting.  It  has  been  a  very 
interesting  and  instructive  one.  and  we  should  carry  to  our  homes 
as  delegates  from  this  Convention  a  warmth  of  such  a  meeting  as 
this.  Let  it  inspire  us,  as  the  last  brother  has  said,  to  do  our 
whole  duty  in  this  connection.  There  is  one  committee  of  the 
Ignited 'Presbyterian  Church  that  I  would  like  to  see  wiped  out 
and  that  is  the  "Ways  and  Means  Committee."  I  have  been  on  it 
a  long  while  and  we  hope  that  it  will  be  abolished  in  the  near 
future,  because  you  will  no  longer  need  it. 

(  On  motion,  time  was  allowed  Mr,  A.  W.  Pollock  to  make  some 
remarks  on  the  subject  of  the  Conference.) 

Mr.  Alexander  W.  Pollock,  Washington,  Pa.:  Mr.  Chair- 
man ."^I  only  wanted  to  emphasize  a  few  things  that  have  been  said. 
Our  chairman,  in  his  opening  address,  struck  the  keynote,  I  think, 
of  what  the  Church  needs  to  arouse  us.  when  he  spoke  about  the 
purpose  for  which  God  brought  us  into  being.  The  trouble  with 
the  mass  of  the  men  and  woinen  of  our  land  to-day  is  that  we  do 
not  realize  why  God  created  us  and  why  He  is  sustaining  us  in 
being.  He  brought  us  here  that  we  might  serve  Him  to  the  best 
of  our  ability,  with  our  whole  soul,  heart  and  mind — and  that 
means  pocketbook  and  everything  else. 

And  another  thought.  The  next  speaker,  I  believe  it  was  Mr. 
Reed,  mentioned  that  verse  in  ]Malachi  where  God  challenges  us 
to  bring  the  tithe  into  the  storehouse.  And  I  would  like  to  ask 
this  audience  how  many  of  you  have  ever  dared  to  test  God  in 
that  particular.  I  know,  in  my  own  observation,  in  my  own 
experience,  that  God  will  answer  and  He  will  fulfil  that  promise, 
just  as  well  as  any  other  that  He  has  ever  made  to  His  people. 
We  are  ready  to  believe  Him  when  He  said  that  1  le  would  give 
us  a  seed  time  and  harvest,  summer  and  heat,  we  believe  that;  but 
when  He  says.  "Bring  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse  and  prove 
Me  now  herewith  and  see  if  I  shall  not  open  the  windows  of 
Heaven."  we  hesitate,  we  can  hardly  agree  with  what  God  says 


158  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

about  that.  I  have  in  my  mind  a  congregation  that  was 
regarded  as  rather  close-fisted,  and  when  it  was  aroused  on  the 
subject  of  missions  and  opened  up  its  heart,  the  pocketbooks  came 
open  too.  and  God  poured  out  a  blessing  upon  that  congregation. 
And  He  is  blessing  it  yet,  and  it  is  twenty  odd  years  since  they 
were  stirred  up.  I  have  known  of  individual  instances  where  God 
has  fulfilled  that  promise  to  the  letter,  and  I  can  say  to  the 
brethren  that  I  have  had  it  in  my  own  experience,  and  I  have  had 
it  this  week  already.  I  have  given  not  nearly  so  much  as  I  ought 
to.  but  I  have  given  a  son  to  the  cause  of  missions  and  I  have  a 
nephew  in  the  field.  And  God  has  blessed  me  and  will  bless  you, 
and  I  would  like  to  see  our  Church  aroused  until  we  have  all 
that  we  need. 

We  depend  entirely  too  much  on  God  doing  the  work  which  it  is 
our  duty  to  do.     We  pray  too  much — that  is  in  proportion  to  what 
we  do.      What  God  wants  is  zuork.      Do,  obey  His  commands, 
and   then   He  will  provide  the  blessing.       Go  into   the   average 
prayer  meeting,  and  how  is  it?      The  minister  leads  the  people 
and  he  prays  that  God  will  pour  out  His  Spirit  upon  this  meeting 
and   upon  the  Church.      And  a  good  elder  over  in  the  corner 
repeats   the   same   petition,    and   another   over   here   repeats   the 
same  thing.     He  may   change   it  and   say,   "paur"   out,   instead  . 
of  "pour"  out.      And  they  go  home  and  sit  down  and  don't  do  a 
thing.     Can  we  expect  God  to  pour  out  His  Spirit  upon  us?     We 
are  continually  asking  for  the  Spirit  and  not  using  the  measure  of 
the  Spirit  that  we  have  already  got.     Every  man  and  woman  born 
into  the  kingdom  has  the  Spirit  of  God  within  him,  and  if  he 
wants  more  of  it,  let  him  go  and  use  what  he  has  got  and  God  will 
increase  it.      The  child  born  into  the  hom.e  has  every  bone  and 
muscle  it  ever  will  have,  but  let  it  lie  in  its  crib  and  what  will  it 
amount  to?    God  has  given  you  the  S])irit.     Use  what  you, have, 
and  then  go  and  ask  Him  for  more.      But  don't  you  think  it  is  an 
insult  to  the  Almighty  to  ask  Him  for  more  of  His  Spirit  when  He 
has  already  given  you  a  measure  of  it  and  you  arc  not  using  that? 
Have  we  any  right  to  expect  Him  to  give  any  more  ?     When  God 
has  given  us  His  Spirit  and  we  just  simply  lock  it  up  in  our  hearts 
or  lay  it  aside  and  do  not  use  it,  can  we  expect  more  of  His  spirit. 
Let  us  wake  up  and  realize  what  God  places  us  here  for,  and  go  to 
work  with  all  the  powers  of  our  being,  and  then  we  shall  have  all 
the  spiritual  power  we  need,  we  shall  have  all  the  money  we  need, 
and  we  shall  have  all  the  men  and  women  to  go  to  foreign  fields 
that  we  need. 


LAYMKn's    CONI^DRKNCE:    on    FOUmCN   MISSIONS.  159 

Rev.  a.  T.  Pierson,  D.  D.  :  May  I  make  a  suggestion  that  is 
more  appropriate  now  than  in  my  address  to-morrow  night  ?  Put 
that  address  of  Campbell  White  into  a  cheap  tract  form.  It  is  the 
most  powerful  appeal  on  the  financial  aspect  of  this  question  that  I 
have  heard  in  forty  years.  Put  it  in  a  cheap  tract  form  that  may 
come  into  the  possession  of  every  member  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church.  I  will  take  a  thousand  copies  of  the  tract  myself 
and  be  glad  to  distribute  them,  because  I  understand  the  sub- 
stance of  that  address  and  it  is  a  mighty  appeal  and  it  ought  to 
reach  to  every  individual  in  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  I 
will  help  to  distribute  it  the  world  over.  I  make  this  suggestion 
now,  that  you  should  not  only  embody  it  in  a  volume  containing 
the  proceedings  of  your  Jubilee  Convention,  but  put  it  in  a  cheap 
form,  that  it  may  reach  everybody  in  your  Church. 

The  Chairman  :  To  carry  out  the  thought  that  has  just  been 
expressed  by  Dr.  Pierson  we  are  going  to  send  this  to  the  com- 
mittee and  ask  them  to  take  up  the  matter  of  printing  this 
pamphlet. 

Carrying  out  the  instructions  of  the  resolution,  the  chairman 
appointed  the  following  committee,  to  report  at  the  close  of  the 
Thursday  evening  session : 

<»     Thos.  J.  Gillespie,  Chairman  ; 

W.  S.  Heade, 

R.  C.  McMasters, 

D.  T.  Reed, 

Rev.  B.  a.  ^IcBride, 

J.  A.  Leekar, 

Samuef,  Young. 


MRS.  E.  m.  HILL 

Foreign  Secretary  of  Women's  Board,  Who  Presided  at  the  Women's 

Meeting. 


WEDNESDAY  EVENING— WOMEN'S  MEETING. 

Women's  Work  for  Women — Its  Past:     Mrs.  W.  W.  Barr. 

W  omen's  Work  for  Women — Its  Present:     Mrs.  J.  P.  White. 

Women's    Work    for    Women — Its     Future:      Miss    Elizabeth 
Irvine. 


WOMEN'S  WORK  FOR  WOMEN— ITS  PAST. 

MRS.    W.    VV.    BARR. 

Tlie  scientist  reads  the  record  of  God's  deeds  in  earth  and  sky. 
The  historian  writes  the  story  of  God's  ruHng  in  the  affairs  of  men. 

We  are  seeking  to  declare  in  this  convention  God's  mighty  acts 
among  the  heathen,  to  record  the  marvels  of  His  grace  in  human 
hearts  and  lives.  What  hath  God  wrought  through  the  women 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  for  the  women  of  India  and 
Egypt.  ?  This  question  changes  into  an  exclamation  of  wonder, 
as  the  record  unfolds.  The  story  of  this  work  is  the  picture  of 
a  river  whose  source  is  a  single  spring,  but  which,  gathering  vol- 
ume as  it  flows,  expands  into  a  noble  stream  capable  of  having 
navies  on  its  bosom.  The  secret  spring  of  Women's  Work  for 
Women  can  be  traced  to  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  some 
responsive  heart.  Its  first  manifestation  within  the  range  of  this 
review  is  seen  in  the  organization  of  the  first  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Associate  Church,  at  Massie's  Creek,  Ohio,  in  1837. 
This  was  followed  in  1838  by  the  First  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  in  the  First  Church,  Alle- 
gheny. These  two  small  bands  are  rightly  regarded  as  the 
pioneers  of  that  mighty  host  who  have  since  enrolled  themselves 
under  the  banner  of  King  Emmanual  for  the  conquest  of  India  and 
Egypt.  The  leaven  of  missionary  zeal  continued  working.  Other 
societies  were  organized,  so  that  when  in  1874  the  General  Assem- 
bly recommended  the  women  to  give  of  their  contributions  to 
establish  schools  for  girls,  and  Zenana  work,  there  was  a  ready 
response.  The  following  years  witnessed  the  multiplication  of 
congregational  societies,  the  organization  of  presbyterials  and  the 
formation  of  the  Women's  General  Missionary  Society.  This 
required  a  means  of  communication,  and  a  source  of  inspiration, 
and  the  Women's  Missionary  Magazine  was  established.  The 
present  proportions  of  this  work  may  be  seen  if  we  consider  that 
we  now  have  63  Presbyterials,  1019  local  societies,  with  a  mem- 
bership of  26,575,  2tnd  the  gifts  for  the  work  in  India  and  Egypt 
during  the  past  year  alone  were  $50,214. 

A  special  feature  in  the  development  of  the  Women's  Mission- 
163 


164  fore:ign  missionary  jubilee:  convention. 

ary  Society  was  the  beginning  of  the  thank  offering.  Like  every 
other  forward  movement,  this  one  was  born  out  of  a  great  sense 
of  need.  In  1887  the  cry  of  India's  and  Egypt's  starving  miUions 
for  the  bread  of  hfe  was  met  by  the  word  retrenchment — (a  word 
ominous  to  the  Hfe  of  the  church  at  home,  as  well  as  to  the  growth 
of  the  work  abroad).  The  agony  born  out  of  sympathy  for  the 
needy  was  voiced  in  the  call  for  a  thank  offering  in  1888.  That 
honored  mother  in  Israel  who  devised  this  plan  for  relief,  herself 
laid  one  thousand  dollars  upon  the  altar  on  that  occasion — $500 
of  which  was  given  to  Foreign  Missions.  The  first  thank  offering 
at  that  time  amounted  to  $5,919.  Since  then  the  total  of  such 
offerings  to  Foreign  Missions  alone  have  been  $124,320.  Let  it  be 
born  in  mind  that  these  offerings  have  been  only  the  outward  ex- 
pression of  the  inward  longing  to  see  the  women  of,  India  and 
Egypt  brought  to  Christ.  Such  outward  expressions  must  neces- 
sarily be  very  imperfect.  Ofttimes  what  is  in  the  heart  is  hinder- 
ed from  outward  expression.  What  a  precious  thought  that  our 
present  mercies  and  future  rewards  are  not  limited  to  our  actual 
accomplishment,  but  extend  also  to  the  good  we  would  do.  So 
every  one  who  has  longed  for,  prayed  for,  or  labored  for  her 
sister  in  India  or  Egypt  must  be  reckoned  as  contributing  to  this 
great  work.  We  are  persuaded  that  some  of  those  who  remain 
at  home  will  share  equally  in  the  final  triumph  with  those  who 
have  gone  forth,  because  their  sacrifices  have  been  no  less.  Take 
for  example  the  members  of  the  Women's  Board.  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  estimate  the  time  and  energy  they  have  given  to  this 
work.  The  selection  of  suitable  female  missionaries — the  build- 
ing and  support  of  boarding  schools — the  erection  and  furnishing 
of  hospitals — the  zeal  and  strength  expei\ded  in  promoting  an 
ever  increasing  interest  in  the  literature  and  thank  oft'ering  de- 
partments— these  all  and  much  more  have  demanded  that.tlicse 
women  give  themselves  to  the  work.  Side  by  side  with  these  lab- 
orers (we  refer  to  our  Women's  Board),  have  been  the  members 
of  the  Magazine  Committee,  which  for  seventeen  years  has  proved 
a  sun  whose  radiance  disclosed  what  was  being  done,  and  also 
revealed  that  there  was  yet  much  land  to  be  possessed.  These  liave 
been  the  wise  leaders  of  women's  work.  But  all  in  vain  would 
have  been  their  leadership,  if  it  had  not  been  supported  and  backed 
up  by  an  army  of  loyal  hearted  women,  in  all  the  walks  of  Chris- 
tian life,  who  have  given  their  time  and  hil)(ir  in  our  missionary 
efforts,  and  of  their  toil  won  earnings  in  our  treasuries,  and  of 
their  foremost  prayers — the  Ijcst  gift  of  all — in  helping  on  the 


woMivN  s  WORK  FOR  \vo:\ii<;n:  its  past.  165 

cause,  and  in  working  out  the  results.  Of  all  these  our  record 
must  be  blank.  CJod's  record  will  fill  it  out,  with  names  and 
deeds  shining  like  the  stars  forever  and  ever.  But  what  of  the 
fruitage  of  all  of  our  longings,  prayers,  labors  and  gifts? 

The  Work  x\cco.mi'Lisiied. 

The  work  done  divides  itself  naturally  into  four  parts — First, 
Schools.  It  was  early  recognized  that  blindness  of  mind  as  well 
as  hardness  of  heart  must  be  dealt  with  in  solving  the  heathen 
problem.  Hence  the  opening  of  schools  for  the  youth.  The  sep- 
aration of  the  sexes  at  an  early  age  demanded  the  establishment  of 
girls'  as  well  as  boys'  schools.  In  the  girls'  schools  the  needs  of  the 
coming  woman  were  considered,  and  as  far  as  possible  supplied. 
These  needs  were  many.  She  must  receive  literary  training  in 
order  to  command  the  respect,  and  prove  a  fitting  companion  for 
an  educated  husband.  She  must  be  eckicated  industrially  in  order 
to  understand  how  to  make  the  word  Jwme  real.  She  must  be 
taught  the  word  of  God  that  she  may  be  adorned  with  the  beauty 
of  holiness.  The  practical  effect  of  such  culture  is  illustrated  in 
the  history  of  Bamba,  who  was  the  first  fruits  unto  God  of  our 
girls'  school  in  Egypt.  India's  royal  Prince,  Maharajah  Dhulup 
Siug-h,  himself  a  Christian,  seeks  this  comparatively  obscure  girl 
as  wife,  because  he  finds  in  her  the  gifts  and  graces  that  compel 
admiration,  and  awaken  love,  but  above  all,  because  of  her 
sterling  Christian  character.  And  the  result  to  the  mission  was 
most  helpful,  at  a  time  when  aid  was  sorely  needed,  for  the  prince, 
as  a  thank  ofifering  to  the  Lord  for  the  gift  of  a  Christian  wife, 
presented  to  the  mission  in  his  wife's  name,  a  sum  sufficient  to 
blot  out  its  debt  of  £1000,  and  promised  £500  annually  to  support 
two  additional  missions,  and  years  afterwards,  just  before  his 
death,  he  gave  to  the  mission  two  sums  of  £2000  each. 

i^ollow  a  girl  in  one  of  the  more  advanced  schools  for  a  single 
day,  and  you  will  observe  her  mastering  advanced  English,  ac- 
quainting herself  with  the  sciences  by  which  many  of  her  super- 
stitions are  at  once  undermined,  showing  her  skill  as  a  musician 
arid  proving  her  ability  as  a  seamstress  or  a  maker  of  bread.  Mark 
her  as  she  readily  recites  Bible  verses,  or  answer  questions  in  our 
shorter  catechism.  Consider  all  this,  and  you  can  form  some  con- 
ception as  to  the  work  done  in  our  schools. 

Second.  Zenana  Work.— This  is  especially,  though  not  exclu- 
sively, work  among  mothers.  The  discovery  was  soon  made  that 
little  progress   would   mark   our   mission   work   as    long   as   the 


166  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

mothers  entrusted  with  the  training  of  the  children  remained 
ignorant  and  superstitious.  The  Zenana  worker  entered  that  por- 
tion of  the  home  allotted  to  women  (usually  the  worst  portion  of 
the  house)  and  with  Bible  in  hand,  and  wisdom  and  love  in  her 
heart,  sought  to  carry  light  and  hope  to  those  whose  spiritual  state 
was  only  faintly  symbolized  by  the  gloomy  abode  in  which  they 
dwelt.  The  worker  tried  so  to  impress  the  love  of  God  upon  that 
cold  dead  heart,  as  to  awaken  a  responsive  chord  of  love  within. 
The  success  of  this  work  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  more  homes 
were  open  to  their  visits  than  our  workers  could  possibly  enter 
and  the  pupils  (jf  harem  workers  number  2760. 

This  work  in  the  school  and  in  the  home,  supplemented  as  it  was 
by  instruction  in  Sabbath  school  and  prayer  meeting,  had  one  com- 
mon aim— the  transforming  of  women  from  the  condition  of  ig- 
norance, impurity,  superstition  and  slavery,  into  that  of  knowl- 
edge, purity  and  equality  with  the  other  sex.  In  doing  this  there 
was  taught  absolute  fidelity  to  the  marriage  vow,  duty  of  mothers 
in  regard  to  the  souls  as  well  as  bodies  of  their  children ;  in  brief, 
the  New  Testament  high  ideal  of  life  and  hope  of  blessed  immor- 
tality. 

Third.  Medical  Work. — Catching  the  inspiration  of  our  bless- 
-ed  Lord's  example,  who  healed  the  diseased  as  well  as  taught  the 
multitudes,  our  workers  established  medical  missions.  The  need 
of  this  work  was  in  startling  evidence.  The  awful  fruits  of 
heathen  practices  manifest  themselves  in  the  bodies  of  its  devotees. 
The  need  of  women's  ministry  to  women  was  most  pressing,  be- 
cause by  custom  the  male  physician  was  excluded  from  women's 
dwellings.  All  who  have  worked  in  this  department  are  worthy 
of  honorable  mention,  but  we  can  refer  only,  to  those  whose  work 
has  been  specially  prominent.  Miss  Maria  White  our  first  medic- 
al missionary  was  sent  to  India  in  1886.  Listen  to  a  fragment 
from  her  last  report.  She  says :  "Regardless  of  hindrances,  there 
has  l)cen  an  attendance  at  our  hospital  of  20,847  patients;  this  in 
one  year."  The  Bible  instruction  has  been  regularly  carried  on, 
and  not  one  patient  even  left  the  dispensary,  without  hearing  of 
Christ  and  His  love.  We  all  remember  another  woman  who 
wrought  mightily  in  medical  work  in  India,  Dr.  Sophia  Johnston. 
Her  herculean  frame  was  more  than  matched  by  the  greatness  of 
her  heart,  and  willingness  to  undertake  for  her  suffering  sisters. 
She  was  taken  in  the  midst  of  her  laliors,  from  duty  to  reward,  in 
1902. 

As  our  view  passes  ovjer  to  Egypt,  two  other  women  physicians 


women's  work  i^or  womkn:  its  past.  167 

rise  before  us,  Dr.  Anna  B.  Watson  and  Dr.  Caroline  C.  Lawrence. 
Every  year  since  they  went  out  has  witnessed  to  their  increased 
devotion  and  usefuhiess. 

Our  Foreign  Secretary,  Mrs.  Hill,  says  in  her  last  report  that 
"we  have  in  both  missions,  3  hospitals,  4  dispensaries,  4  physi- 
cians, 2  trained  nurses  and  other  assistants,  with  property  approxi- 
mating- thousands  of  dollars,"  and  then  there  is  urgent  need  for 
more  workers. 

We  must  not  omit  the  village  or  itinerating  work,  a  very  impor- 
tant department  to  which  our  missionaries  have  devoted  manv 
weeks  of  each  year.  Thousands  of  women  have  been  waiting  for 
the  gospel  news,  who  never  have  been  reached,  because  of  the  lack 
of  workers.  One  tells  us  that  there  has  been  known  to  be  100,000 
women  in  one  district,  with  but  one  missionary  to  tell  them  of  a 
loving  Saviour.  Miss  Wilson  told  us  last  year,  that  when  teach- 
ing the  women  to  ask  a  blessing  before  eating,  a  sick  woman  said, 
"I  always  say  'O  Guru'  when  I  go  to  mix  my  bread,  or  otherwise 
the  flour  would  blow  away."  Another  said,  "Until  we  tell  lies,  steal 
and  slander  our  neighbors,  our  food  will  not  digest."  All  such 
heathen  ideas,  our  woman  missionaries  have  been  laboring  to  dis- 
pel from  these  densely  ignorant  people. 

D^ar  friends,  does  not  even  this  brief  and  very  important  sur- 
vey of  what  God  hath  wrought  for  the  women  of  India  and 
Egypt  through  the  women  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
furnish  abundant  ground  for  Thanksgiving?  Shall  our  gratitude 
to  God  not  be  free  and  full,  because  He  has  counted  us  worthy  of 
such  service?  On  the  principle  that  he  who  serves  most  is  most 
exalted,  surely  God  hath  highly  exalted  the  women  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church.  Let  us  never  cease  to  praise  Him  for  the 
position  assigned  us  in  His  vineyard.  The  task  undertaken  was 
that  of  elevating  womanhood  of  India  and  Egypt  from  the  condi- 
tion of  being  the  slaves  of  heathen  masters  to  the  position  of  being 
helpmates  and  companions  for  Christian  men.  We  assumed  the 
place  of  emancipators,  and  proposed  to  strike  from  our  sisters  in 
these  lands  the  chains  of  ignorance,  error,  prejudice,  superstition 
and  custom,  and  introduce  them  into  the  light  and  liberty  enjoyed 
by  those  who  know  and  do  the  truth.  We  have  proposed  to  take 
these  helpless  victims  of  environment  and  lust,  give  them  power, 
and  send  them  forth  to  help  and  bless  others.  Truly  the  work 
undertaken  rose  before  us  like  a  great  mountain.  But  what  grati- 
tude should  fill  our  hearts,  as  each  succeeding  year  of  prayer,  and 
labor,  and  sacrifice,  made  more  clear  that  God  was  again  fulfilling 


168  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

that  vision  of  long  ago,  and  the  great  mountain  was  becoming  a 
])lain.  We  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  the  work  done  could 
not  be  judged  by  the  results  seen.  This  has  been  largely  founda- 
tion, and  therefore  hidden  work.  But  just  as  one  wishing  to  rear 
a  lofty,  stately  edifice  wisely  expends  much  labor  on  its  foundation, 
so  very  much  of  the  endeavor  put  forth  to  Christianize  the  women 
of  Egypt  and  India,  though  never  revealed  until  the  "books  are 
opened,"  has  been  most  wisely  directed.  Surely  we  who  laid 
the  foundations  shall  rejoice  as  much  as  they  whose  hands  place 
the  cope-stone.  He  that  soweth  and  he  that  rcapeth  shall  rejoice 
together  in  the  harvest.  Yet  we  must  not  fail  to  thank  Gpd  for 
results  that  do  appear.  Let  us  look  at  some  statistics.  In  Egypt 
the  number  of  female  communicants  for  1903  is  3302.  Number 
of  women  and  girls  attending  Sabbath  morning  services  5879, 
number  of  women  and  girls  attending  mid-week  evening  services 
13 1 3,  number  of  women  and  girls  attending  women's  prayer 
meeting  3366.  (We  could  not  obtain  similar  statistics  from 
India.)  In  each  of  these  lands  that  splendid  temple,  the  dwell- 
ing place  of  God,  into  whose  walls  thousands  of  the  women  of 
India  and  Egypt  are  already  built  as  living  stones,  is  rising  in 
glorious  grandeur.  Nor  is  this  all,  we  behold  that  in  the  spirit 
of  the  saved  ones,  which  causes  us  to  strike  a  still  higher  note  of 
joy  and  thanksgiving.  These  women  recognize  that  they  have 
been  saved  to  serve.  Are  we  surprised  that,  burning  with  indig- 
nation at  the  place  allotted  her  in  heathenism,  the  Christian  con- 
vert feels  that  she  must  tell  her  heathen  sisters  of  the  gift  of 
Christ.  So  eleven  Women  Missionary  Societies  in  India,  and 
eight  in  Egypt  are  already  doing  effective  work  in  saving  others. 
The  same  blessed  Lord  has  laid  the  same  precious  burden  upon 
their  hearts  as  upon  ours.  The  spirit  of  missions  is  self  nmlti- 
plying.  It  is  the  spiritual  banyan  tree,  whose  extending  branches 
(Irooj)  to  earth  only  to  take  root  and  form  other  trees,  and. so  on 
until  a  forest  grows  from  a  single  plant.  Then  ours  is  the  joy 
and  insi)iration  of  hope  as  we  face  the  future.  What  wc  have  ac- 
complished is  the  sure  prophecy  of  what  will  come  to  pass.  Just 
as  the  smiting  of  tiic  mountain  top  by  the  sun  is  the  assurance  that 
lir  will  rise  higher  and  flood  the  valleys,  so  what  has  been  accom- 
pli slutl  is  the  certain  precursor  of  the  full  orbed  day,  when  India 
and  Egypt  will  be  l)athe(l  in  the  glory  of  ( lospcl  light. 

Surely  our  venerable  sister,  our  iirst  woman  missionary  to 
India,  Miss  Elizabeth  Gordon,  now  s])ending  life's  sunset  quietly 
Si  her  western  home,  burdened,  thou.t;]i  she  be  with  years,  and  in- 


women's  work  for  women  :  its  past.  169 

firmitics.  must  joy  before  the  Lord,  even  with  the  joy  of  harvest 
as  she  sees  how  far  beyond  her  brighest  vision  of  hope,  fifty  years 
ago,  is  the  present  reality  in  India.  Certainly,  that  raptured 
soul,  Sarah  B.  Dales  (afterwards  Mrs.  Lansing),  our  first 
woman  worker  in  Egypt,  and  to  whose  devotion  God  set  his  seal 
by  giving  her  the  first  girl  convert  in  Egypt,  must  rejoice  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,  as  she  welcomes  to  heavenly 
fellowship,  the  ransomed  ones  promoted  from  the  land  of  the 
Pharaohs.  May  their  joy  and  thanksgiving  find  an  echo  in  each 
heart  here  to-nisrht. 


WOMEN'S  WORK  FOR  WOMEN:    ITS  PRESENT. 

MRS.   J.   P.    WHITE,   TOPEKA,   KANSAS. 

There  never  was  a  time  like  the  present.  The  glories  of  all  the 
past  aijes  are  not  to  he  compared  with  the  glories  of  the  twentieth 
century.  The  Hand  of  God  has  led  men  in  their  achievements, 
in  art  and  literature  and  science  and  invention  and  discovery,  and, 
in  an  especially  marked  manner,  in  the  cause  of  the  world-Avide 
evangelization. 

In  "The  Crisis  of  Missions,"  that  little  hook  that  has  done  so 
much  to  stir  men's  hearts  by  laying  upon  them  the  burden  of 
countless  millions  dying  without  a  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,  Dr. 
Pierson  says:  "God's  ancient  Israel  were  led  by  a  pillar  of  cloud 
and  fire.  It  was  dark,  yet  light ;  mysterious,  yet  luminous ; 
obscure,  vet  glorious;  instinct,  with  divine  intelligence;  vocal, 
with  divine  utterance.  Wherever  that  pillar  moved  or  rested. 
His  people  were  to  follow  or  halt,  and  to  move  in  its  sacred 
shadow,  were  to  be  guided  by  His  wisdom,  guarded  by  His  power, 
and  shielded  by  His  protection.  That  pillar  was  a  visible  symbol 
of  the  Providence  of  God,  which  through  all  the  ages  remains,  to 
His  people  the  perpetual  signal  of  His  presence,  power  and  pleas- 
ure. \\'e  are  to  watch  that  pillar  of  Providence,  march  when  and 
w^here  it  moves  and  halt  when  and  where  it  rests." 

We  who  have  been  folkjwing  this  pillar  o-f 'Providence  in  world 
evangelization,  see,  in  tliis  year  of  oiu'  Lord,  1904,  the  widest 
door  of  opportmiil)'  that  has  ever  been  (Opened  to  the  disciples  of 
Christ  in  any  age,  and  to  no  Church  does  this  door  of  opportunity 
open  wider  than  to  our  own. 

One  hundred  years  ago.  a  certain  denomination  over  in  Scot- 
land, for  many  hours  discussed  the  subject  whether  or  not  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  Church  to  send  missionaries  to  the  heathen. 

Fiftv  years  ago,  the  Christian  world  was  just  beginning  to 
awaken  to  the  needs  of  perishing  millions.  Our  own  Church 
caught  the  .spirit,  and  the  Gordons  and  McCagues  and  Barnetts 
went  forth  to  tell  the  nld,  old  story  in  new  strange  tongues.    These 

170 


WOMUN  S  WORK  FOR  WOMEN  :  ITS  PRUSI^NT.  ITJ 

fifty  years  of  blessing  have  been  recounted  by  the  previous 
speaker. 

How  our  hearts  are  filled  with  thanksgiving  because  of  God's 
marvelous  dealings  with  us,  and  we  exclaim,  "Hitherto  hath  the 
Lord  helped  us."  With  the  mantle  of  our  fathers  upon  us,  we 
stand  in  a  position  of  great  responsibility.  Multitudes,  in  their 
need,  eagerly  stretch  forth  their  hands  to  receive  the  blessings 
and  rich  miracles  of  grace  which  follow  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 

Egypt  and  the  Punjab,  India,  lie  before  us,  open  and  accessible, 
awaiting  the  divine  message.  For  the  sake  of  neglected  child- 
hood, and  outraged  girlhood,  and  suffering  womanhood  and 
cursed  manhood ;  for  the  sake  of  poverty-stricken,  famine-ridden 
lands ;  for  the  sake  of  filth-destroying,  disease-devouring  homes ; 
for  the  sake  of  the  wretchedness  and  woe  and  want,  that  call  out 
to  us  from  every  city  and  village,  let  us,  w^ith  eagerness  and 
earnestness,  view  the  great  fields  where  God  has  given  us  the 
privilege  of  being  His  co-laborers. 

They  lie  in  tropic  zones,  where  burning  sun,  and  scorching 
sand,  and  plagues  innumerable,  have  tried  the  staunchest  hearts, 
but  these  things  have  all  been  counted  as  nothing  by  those  who 
have  gone  forth  to  sow  the  seed  of  truth.  They  lie  among  people 
who  bow  before  gods  of  their  own  making,  and  among  those  who 
own  no  God  but  Allah,  and  Mohammed,  the  prophet  of  God. 

The  former  attitude  of  these  people  toward  Jesus  and  His 
work,  was  indescribable  hostility,  but  years  of  Gospel  teaching 
have  so  permeated  the  minds  and  hearts  of  many,  that  not  only 
have  16,434  come  out  on  the  Lord's  side,  and  40,000  allied  them- 
selves with  us  in  our  Christian  communities,  but,  in  God's  Provi- 
dence, hundreds  are  asking  for  baptism  in  India,  and  every  city 
and  village  in  Egypt  is  open  for  a  Christian  school. 

Missionary  activities  run  out  in  many  different  channels,  and 
the  present  state  of  blessing  is  due  to  all  the  agencies  that  are  com- 
bined for  the  one  great  purpose  of  redeeming  Egypt  and  India  to 
Christ. 

The  various  departments  of  mission  work  are  so  closely  related 
that  one  cannot  deal  with  one  department  without  touching  the 
whole  work.  When  one  speaks  of  school  work,  you  think  of 
dark-browed  boys  and  girls  bending  over  tasks,  in  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  or  the  Bible;  but  your  imagination  must  run 
further,  until  you  see  the  finished  products  of  these  schools,  the 
teachers  and  preachers,  the  stalwart  citizens  that  come  forth  from 


172  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

Sialkot,  India,  and  Assiut,  Egypt,  who  go  out  to  bless  and  uplift 
those  lands,  and  bring  light  and  Christian  civilization  to  them. 

Christian  education  in  heathen  lands  carries  in  its  train  the 
same  beneficial  rtsults  that  are  seen  in  Christian  countries,  and 
educated,  new-born  men  and  women  in  Christ  in  those  darkened 
lands  have  new  hopes,  new  aspirations,  new  desires  in  life,  and 
their  changed  hearts  and  homes  become  centers  of  influence, 
which,  little  by  little,  are  transforming  the  whole  of  Egypt  and 
India. 

When  evangelistic  work  is  spoken  of,  your  mind  is  filled  with 
rather  indistinct  pictures  of  black-robed,  turbaned  Egyptians  in 
a  mud  house,  instructing  a  few  dusky  sons  of  toil,  or  camels  laden 
with  household  goods,  tents,  missionaries,  with  sun-hats  and  a 
group  of  Punjabi  people  imder  some  banyan  tree,  but  your  minds 
must  run  on  and  on  to  the  large  congregations  of  Indian  men  and 
women,  as  they  lift  their  voices  in  praise  to  God  in  a  strange 
bhajan,  or  commemorate  His  dying  love  at  the  Communion-feast ; 
and  to  the  great  assemblies  of  God's  people  that  meet  on  the  Lord's 
day,  in  commodious  churches,  in  the  Valley  of  the  Nile. 

Then  you  think  of  the  work  called  distinctively  "Woman's 
Work."  It  is  the  humblest  yet  the  greatest,  the  narrowest  yet  the 
widest  of  all  our  foreign  mission  work. 

The  Bible  woman  goes  alone  into  homes,  where  she  meets  with 
one,  two  or  a  half  dozen  women,  who  are  seeking  light.  No  large 
assemblies,  no  great  concourse  of  people,  but  a  single  Nicodemus 
searching  for  truth. 

The  direct  results  of  the  Harem  and  Zenana  work  are  far  less 
apparent  than  the  workers  could  hope  for.  The  many  are  dili- 
gently taught  day  after  day  and  the  few  come  out  openly  on  the 
Lord's  side.  Women's  work  is  slowest  of  all  departments  of  our 
foreign  work  in  its  immediate  results,  but  the  secondary  results 
extend  further  than  we  can  measure.  Many  a  pupil  in  the  Harem 
or  Zenana  is  a  disciple  secretly  for  fear  of  her  husband  and  while 
she  may  never  have  the  courage  to  come  out  openly  and  profess 
her  faith  in  Christ,  yet  she  has  it  within  her  power  to  so  instill  the 
truth  into  the  minds  of  her  children  that  they  will  some  day  be 
the  pillars  in  our  Evangelical  Church. 

The  people  among  whom  we  labor,  themselves  realize  that  the 
work  of  our  Piible  teachers  is  undermining  the  foundations  of  their 
religion.  An  old  Tamil  proverb  says  :  "As  the  thread,  so  the  cloth ;. 
as  the  mother,  so  the  child."     The  old  customs  and  superstitions. 


women's  work  for  women:  its  present.  173 

are  perpetuated  in  the  home.  It  is  the  mother  who  ties  the  charms 
on  the  baby's  neck  to  keep  away  the  Evil  Eye.  It  is  the  mother 
who  places  the  offering  in  the  baby  hand,  to  be  laid  on  some  idol 
shrine.  To  influence  these  mothers  for  Christ,  is  a  precious  privi- 
lege indeed. 

But  the  most  important  work  done  for  Egypt  and  India  is  done 
in  our  Girls'  Boarding  Schools.  The  importance  of  educating  the 
youth  was  fully  appreciated  by  those  who  laid  the  foundation  of 
our  foreign  mission  work.  The  pupils  in  the  houses  have  their 
lives  touched  and  influenced  by  studying  God's  word ;  the  girls  in 
the  day  school  are  helped  to  better  lives  and  often  led  into  accept- 
ance of  the  Saviour. 

But  the  real  reforming  and  transforming  agency  in  those  lands 
is  the  Christian  Boarding  School.  The  young  lives  brought 
under  daily  discipline  and  instruction  are  moulded  into  divine 
likeness.  With  reading  and  writing  and  arithmetic  come  sweep- 
ing and  washing  and  baking.  As  they  sew  and  embroider,  they 
weave  into  their  characters  the  gentleness  and  meekness  and  purity 
which  characterize  their  Master ;  and  with  this  education  of  head 
and  hand  and  heart  they  go  out  to  be  true  home-makers. 

That  the  ultimate  aim  of  our  school  work — the  saving  of  souls — 
is  at^ined  by  these  agencies,  is  evidenced  by  the  large  number  of 
pupils  who  profess  their  faith  in  Jesus. 

What  is  true  of  Girls'  Boarding  Schools  is  likewise  true  of  Boys' 
Boarding  Schools.  Look  at  the  Pasrur  Home  where  last  year  65 
openly  professed  their  faith  in  Christ.  Look  at  Assiut,  Egypt, 
where  79  students  made  a  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ  and 
united  with  the  Church ;  62  were  young  men  from  the  Training 
College  and  17  were  young  ladies  from  the  Pressly  Memorial 
Institute. 

Mr.  Meyer  has  said,  'To  make  a  man,  God  begins  with  his 
mother."  Few  of  us  realize  the  immense  importance  attaching 
to  the  education  of  girls.  Those  who  bear  the  children  make  our 
times.  She  that  rocks  the  cradle  rules  the  world.  The  Zenanas 
of  India  and  the  Harems  of  Egypt  must  be  taken  for  Christ,  before 
India  and  Egypt  will  yield  to  the  Gospel. 

In  her  natural,  native  life,  no  condition  is  more  pitiable  than 
that  of  a  girl  or  woman  in  a  heathen  or  Mohammedan  land.  As 
a  babe,  she  is  unwelcome  ;  as  a  child,  untaught ;  as  a  wife,  unloved ; 
as  a  mother,  unhonored ;  in  old  age,  uncared  for  and  when  her 
miserably  dark  and  dreary  life  is  ended,  she  is  unmourned  by  those 
whom  she  has  served. 


174  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

In  her  redeemed  estate,  made  a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus,  her 
position  is  one  of  mighty  influence  and  power.  The  transformed 
Hfe  in  the  home,  the  influence  in  the  neighborhood,  the  instruction 
given  to  her  children,  all  combine  to  make  her  the  mightiest 
factor  in  tlie  redemption  of  her  race.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
Koran  that  will  elevate  and  give  respect  to  woman  and  purify 
the  home.  At  the  Parliament  of  Religions  in  Chicago,  the  Koran 
was  extolled  and  placed  on  an  equality  with  the  Bible.  Go  to 
Turkey  with  her  massacres ;  go  to  Syria  with  her  fanaticism ;  go 
to  Egypt,  or  wherever  the  Mohammedan  scepter  has  held  sway 
and  see  there  the  degraded,  ignorant  women,  the  filthy,  quarrel- 
some homes  and  there  you  have  a  commentary  on  the  Koran. 
Then  come  to  America,  go  into  our  Christian  homes,  see  the  love 
and  respect  of  children  for  mothers,  of  husbands  for  wives ;  see  the 
well  kept  homes,  the  dainty,  inviting  tables ;  see  the  parents  and 
children  bowing  around  the  family  altar,  thanking  God  for  His 
blessing  upon  that  home  and  there  you  have  a  commentar\-  on  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  homes  are  the  strategic  points  in  our  conquest  of  Egypt 
and  India.  The  advancement  of  our  cause  there  depends  upon  the 
rapidity  with  which  we  take  these  homes  for  Christ. 

Spiritual  and  intellectual  needs  are  not  all  that  are  considered 
in  our  work  for  our  sisters  in  India  and  Egypt.  We  would  not  be 
true  to  our  commission,  if  we  did  not  follow  the  example  of  Him 
who  sympathized  with  the  suffering,  healed  the  diseased  and 
raised  the  dead. 

For  years,  the  poor  women  in  heathen  and  Moslem  lands  have 
been  shut  out  from  the  privilege  of  medical  skill  and  they  were 
compelled  to  suffer  the  tortures  of  pain  and. raging  fever  without 
relief.  In  the  Providence  of  God,  consecrated  lady  physicians 
have  given  their  lives  for  these  suffering  women  and  through. their 
tender  ministrations  hundreds  of  homes  have  been  opened  to  the 
Gospel.  Not  only  are  they  skillful  in  alleviating  much  bodily 
suffering,  but  also  are  they  successful  in  pointing  many  to  the 
great  Physician,  who  can  heal  their  sin  sick  souls.  Surely  the 
lame  and  the  halt  and  the  blind  that  gathered  around  our  blessed 
Lord,  to  receive  His  healing  touch,  have  their  counterpart  in  the 
crowds  that  daily  throng  the  clinics  of  our  medical  missionaries. 

Follow  with  the  mind's  eye,  for  a  moment,  the  daily  routine  of 
our  53  lady  missionaries  and  43  wives  of  missionaries,  itinerating, 
preaching,  instructing  converts,  giving  lessons  in  day  schools, 
attending  duties  in  boarding  schools,  such  as  overseeing  cooking, 


women's  work  for  WOMlvN  :  ITS  PRlCSI^NT.  175 

housekeeping-,  laundry,  overseeing;  Bible  women  and  teachers, 
superintending  S.  S.  work,  keeping  accounts,  assisting  some 
aspiring  mother  to  make  a  baby  bonnet  or  dress  that  will  look  like 
the  American's,  visiting  women  in  their  homes  and  entertaining 
in  return,  joining  in  marriage  feasts,  mourning  with  those  who 
mourn,  nursing  the  sick,  dispensing  medicines,  performing  surgi- 
cal operations,  conducting  Bible  schools ;  in  short.  96  women  of 
our  Church  are  giving  their  lives  a  willing  sacrifice  for  their 
sisters  in  India  and  Egypt  and  the  wonderful  results  show  that 
it  is  not  in  vain. 

Every  year  the  figures  rise  higher  and  higher,  indicating  more 
faithfulness,  more  influence,  more  reaping  of  seed  sown.  To 
know  that  2760  women  are  enrolled  as  pupils  in  the  homes  in 
Egypt,  and  to  know  that  3669  girls  are  in  our  school,  and  to  know 
that  3302  women  are  members  of  our  Egyptian  Evangelical 
Church,  is  to  know  that  these  hundreds  of  women  and  girls  are 
added  to  the  forces  of  righteousness,  which  will  eventually  bring 
in  the  time  when  the  "Egyptians  shall  know  the  Lord"  and  "the 
Lord  of  Hosts  shall  bless  them,  saying.  Blessed  be  Egypt  my 
people." 

The  part  that  the  home  Church  enjoys  in  advancing  the  cause  of 
Chrkt  in  foreign  lands  is  gradually  losing  the  aspect  of  duty  only 
and  is  coming  to  be  viewed  as  a  gracious  privilege.  Student 
Volunteers  by  the  score  stand  ready  to  go  to  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth.  Of  all  who  have  volunteered,  one  third  are  women. 
Couple  this  with  the  fact,  that  the  remaining  two-thirds  take  with 
them  noble  wives,  who  are  willing  to  endure  any  discomfort,  share 
any  hardship,  bear  any  burden  to  help  carry  the  Gospel  Message 
and  there  is  a  wonderful  force  for  the  uplifting  of  the  down  trod- 
den sisters  of  heathen  lands.  This  awakening  is  being  felt  in  our 
own  Church  more  and  more.  In  all  our  colleges,  the  world  field  is 
being  studied  by  a  greater  or  less  number  of  students,  and  many  of 
these  young  people  are  volunteers,  willing  and  anxious  to  give 
their  lives  for  the  great  cause  of  world  evangelization. 

There  has  never  been  an  incident  of  such  moment  to  any  Church 
as  that  call  sent  forth  by  our  India  missionaries  and  seconded  by 
those  in  Egypt  and  the  Sudan,  asking  for  480  new  workers  for 
our  foreign  fields.  Since  that  call  was  sent  52  young  people  of  our 
Church  have  offered  themselves  on  the  Altar  of  service,  a  cause 
for  great  thanksgiving. 

How  it  thrills  our  hearts  with  joy  to  see  the  student  volunteers 
in  Egypt.     The  number  of  these  since  1895  is  163.  many  of  whom 


176  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILEE)    CONVENTION. 

are  already  engag-ed  in  the  great  work  to  which  they  have  dedi- 
cated their  Hves,  and  to-day  60  of  the  choicest  young  men  in 
Assint  College  stand  pledged  to  the  Master's  service  in  redeeming 
Egypt  and  the  Sudaji  for  Christ.  Several  girls  in  the  Cairo 
Boarding  School  have  likewise  banded  themselves  together,  prom- 
ising each  other  and  God  that  they  would  give  their  services  to 
uplift  their  own  sisters  in  any  place  the  Lord  would  indicate. 

Our  Bible  schools  and  training  institutes  and  missionary  con- 
ventions in  this  land  are  all  indications  of  increasing  interest  in  the 
advancement  of  the  kingdom,  and  attendance  on  these  is  counted 
a  great  joy  and  privilege  by  thousands  of  God's  people.  Over  in 
India,  there  assemble  every  summer,  in  training  schools,  the 
workers  and  their  wives.  Imagine  those  women  coming  with  their 
babies,  sitting  day  after  day,  in  eager  desire  to  learn  more  of  the 
truth.  Ah !  Here  is  evidence  that  India  is  becoming  Christ's — 
the  mothers  of  India  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and  drinking 
in  His  gracious  words. 

The  organized  women's  work  of  our  Church  represents  one  of 
the  greatest  privileges  that  has  ever  been  given  to  Christian 
women  of  any  age.  We  rejoice  at  the  large  part  God  is  permit- 
ting us  to  do  for  the  Salvation  of  the  world.  How  much  greater 
cause  for  rejoicing  is  the  fact  that  the  Christian  women  in  our 
missions  are  studying  the  world  field  and  that  their  hearts  are  filled 
with  the  same  desire  as  ours. 

It  would  have  been  good  to  have  met  with  them  in  their  Annual 
Presbyterial  Conventions,  in  April  and  have  heard  their  excellent 
reports  and  have  seen  the  dignity  and  grace  with  which  Miss 
Bedr  presided  in  the  Alexandria  Convention,  or  to  have  seen  the 
joyous  earnestness  of  Mrs.  Gandu  Mall,  4s  she  conducted  the 
Sialkot  Presbyterial  Thank  Offering.  How  it  would  have  stimu- 
lated us  to  have  been  in  that  Lyallpur  Convention,  where  gathered 
with  them  were  100  village  women.  How  much  they  are  in 
earnest  is  indicated  by  19  of  them  walking  fourteen  miles  to  attend 
the  meeting. 

The  $81,710.99  sent  by  the  women  of  our  Churth,  last  year,  to 
support  our  work  in  foreign  lands,  shows  that  the  spirit  of  David, 
as  shown  in  the  words,  'T  will  not  offer  to  the  Lord  my  God  of 
that  which  doth  cost  me  nothing,"  is  finding  a  response  in  many 
consecrated  lives ;  but  our  consecration  is  not  to  be  mentioned  with 
that  of  our  women  in  Egypt  and  India.  The  gift  of  a  few  pennies 
from  a  poor  Punjabi  woman  represents  more  self-sacrifice  than 
we  could  conceive  of. 


womkn's  work  for  women:  its  present.  177 

With  what  approbation  must  He  who  sits  over  against  the 
treasury  have  looked  on  those  village  women  in  Lyallpur  district, 
as  they  put  their  offerings  in  their  jugs  for  the  support  of  the 
village  teacher? 

Our  thank  offering  Secretary  asks :  "Can  it  be  true  that  the  two 
Presbyterials  in  Egypt,  in  many  cases,  out  of  their  almost  poverty, 
gave  more  this  last  year,  in  gifts  of  gratitude  to  God,  than  any 
one  of  33  Presbyterials  in  the  home  land  gave  one  year  ago? 
Open  your  July  Magazine  for  1903  and  see  how  many  Presbyter- 
ials paid  less  than  the  total  of  Egypt's  gift  $358.80. 

The  personal  element  that  has  entered  into  our  missionary 
operations  during  recent  years,  is  one  of  the  greatest  encourage- 
ments of  modern  times.  How  it  rejoices  our  hearts  to  see  a 
Presbytery,  a  congregation  and  especially  an  individual,  supporting 
a  worker  in  foreign  fields.  Many  of  our  missionaries  are  thus 
supported.  Six  of  our  men  and  four  lady  missionaries  are  sup- 
ported by  individuals.  The  very  fact  of  doing  this  should  join 
together  in  faith  and  prayer  and  personal  sympathy  those  who 
send  and  the  one  who  is  sent.  Sharers  in  sowing,  they  shall 
surely  share  in  the  harvest. 

The  new  plan  of  taking  shares  of  $25.00  in  the  support  of  a 
missibnary  or  missionary  station  should  meet  with  a  wide  re- 
sponse 

There  is  not  an  individual  in  this  audience,  to-night,  but  believes 
that  there  are  10,000  people  in  the  United  Presbyterian  Church 
who  could  give  over  and  above  their  regular  offering  this  share 
of  $25.00.  And  if  our  people  would  awaken  to  this  privilege,  the 
magnificent  sum  of  $250,000.00  would  be  added  annually  to  what 
we  are  now  contributing  to  our  foreign  work. 

May  the  time  soon  come  when  every  individual  of  moderate 
means  will  take  a  share  and  every  individual  of  wealth  w^ill  sup- 
port a  substitute  in  India,  Egypt  or  the  Sudan. 

Beautiful  as  this  spirit  is  when  manifested  among  us  who  have 
had  the  Gospel  for  centuries,  it  is  excelled  by  the  same  spirit 
among  peoples  who  have  had  the  Gospel  for  only  fifty  years. 
The  S.  S.  of  the  Girls'  Boarding  School  of  Sialkot  last  year  sup- 
ported a  worker  in  Lyallpur  district.  The  Synod  of  the  Nile 
supported  Rev.  Gebra  Hanna  in  the  Sudan.  x\  bHnd  Bible 
woman  in  Assiut  is  supported  by  a  few  women  of  the  Church,  and 
in  the  village  of  Wuladieh,  a  Bible  woman  works,  whose  support 

comes  from  her  former  schoolmates.    A  boys'  and  girls'  school  in 


178  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILKf;    CONVENTION. 

Assiut,  under  the  direction  of  our  mission,  has  for  years  been  sup- 
ported by  two  famiHes  there. 

Is  not  this  evidence  tliat  those  people  appreciate  the  blessings 
of  Jesus  in  their  own  lives  and  have  caught  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
"Not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister  ?"  The  true  Spirit  of 
Christ's  followers  is  not  that  of  Alexander  weeping  for  more 
worlds  to  be  conquered  by  the  sword,  but  that  of  Xavier  murmur- 
ing in  lonely  vigil,  "Yet  more,  oh  Christ,  yet  more  to  conquer  for 
thee!"  In  no  way  detracting  one  iota  from  the  importance  of  the 
general  work  of  the  Church  at  home  and  abroad  (and  it  is  not 
presumption  to  say  it),  the  coming  of  the  King  is  to  be  hastened 
by  the  daughters  of  the  King.  Their  hearts  must  be  aglow  with 
love  divine  and  every  energy  must  be  consecrated  to  Him. 

As  much  of  the  work  done  in  the  field  must  be  done  by  women, 
so  much  of  the  home  work  must  be  done  by  them.  "We  see 
clearly  how  much  of  the  real  undermining  work  in  missions  lies  in 
woman's  hands  to  accomplish.  The  tightly  shut  doors  of  the 
Zenanas  will  open  only  to  a  woman's  touch  and  it  must  be  a 
woman's  voice  that  tells  there  the  story  of  redeeming  love."  But 
that  voice  would  falter  and  that  hand  would  grow  weak,  if  there 
were  not  the  consciousness  that  over  here  in  America  some  of 
Christ's  own  daughters  were  joining  at  the  Father's  throne  in 
asking  for  "grace  sufficient." 

In  the  home  land,  the  women  must  be  the  educators  and 
agitators.  With  the  mothers  of  the  coming  generation  lie  a 
blessed  privilege  and  a  great  responsibility.  We  may  be  able  to 
so  strain  and  influence  the  young  lives  entrusted  to  our  care,  that 
the  evangelization  of  the  world  may  be  hastened  many  decades. 

If  the  talk  at  the  tables  and  family  firesides  is  chiefly  of  recep- 
tions and  entertainments  and  dinners  and  dress,  the  children  of 
those  homes  grow  up  to  love  the  world  and  the  things  of  the  world, 
but  if  the  Saviour's  love  and  the  Saviour's  work  are  the  principal 
topics  of  conversation,  the  children  grow  up  to  l)clieve  that  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  is  the  supreme  duty  of  life. 

Every  woman  has  it  Avithin  her  power  to  mould  and  crystallize 
this  sentiment  in  the  minds  of  father,  husband,  brother  and  espec- 
ially her  own  children.  When  the  women  of  the  Church  thor- 
oughly believe  that  the  most  important,  the  most  gigantic,  the 
most  blessed  work  in  the  whole  world  is  the  saving  of  souls,  it  will 
not  be  long  until  the  kingdoms  of  this  earth  shall  have  become  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord. 

Dr.  A.  II.  Strong  has  uttered  a  sentiment  that  should  be  echoed 


women's  work  I'^or  women:  its  present.  179 

in  every  Christian  heart :  "What  are  the  Churches  for  but  to  make 
missionaries?  What  is  education  for  but  to  train  them?  What 
is  commerce  for  but  to  carry  them  ?  What  is  money  for  but  to 
send  them?  What  is  Hfe  itself  for  but  to  fulfill  the  purpose  of 
foreign  iiiissions,  the  enthroning  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  hearts  of 
men  ?" 

Mothers  of  this  generation,  the  Master  is  calling  you  to  train 
workers  for  Egypt  and  India.  I  see  a  mother  who  is  interested 
in  this  great  work.  She  believes  in  it,  she  prays  for  it,  and  the 
Master  puts  His  hand  on  one  of  her  children,  and  says,  "Son, 
daughter,  go  work  to-day  in  my  vineyard,  in  India  or  Egypt  or 
the  Sudan."  In  grief  of  heart  she  clasps  her  darling  to  her  and 
cries,  "Oh,  my  God,  not  my  child,  not  my  child."  The  anguish  of 
these  experiences  is  known  only  to  mother  hearts,  but  any  mother 
should  feel  the  high  honor  conferred  upon  her,  that  her  children 
should  be  commanded  to  carry  the  message  of  life  to  the  sin-bur- 
dened world. 

It  is  hard  to  understand  how  mothers  send  forth  with  joy  their 
sons  to  fight  the  battles  of  earth  and  yet  others  will  go  into  solitude 
and  mourning  for  one  who  has  been  called  to  the  battles  of  our 
King  in  foreign  lands. 

Soaie  years  ago,  one  of  our  missionary  friends  in  Syria,  Dr. 
Henry  Jessup — a  prince  among  missionaries — was  asked  to  go  to 
Persia  as  an  ambassador  of'  the  United  States.  He  replied,  "I  am 
Ambassador  of  the  King  of  Heaven  and  I  can  not  come  down 
to  accept  such  a  position ;"' and  who  would  not  rather  be  the 
mother  of  such  an  ambassador  than  to  be  mother  of  earth's 
greatest  potentate? 

Is  there  not  inspiration  in  the  daily  prayer  of  Dr.  Scudder  for 
his  son,  "Lord,  make  him  a  christian  and  make  him  a  missionary," 
but  is  there  not  greater  inspiration  for  us  in  the  prayers  offered 
by  a  father  and  mother  of  our  own  Church  for  the  missionary 
cause,  God  answering  their  prayers  by  calling  their  only  daughter 
to  go  as  a  missionary  to  Egypt,  where  she  now  labors  supported 
by  her  consecrated  parents?  See  that  missionary  home  in 
northern  China !  The  mad  frenzied  mob  of  boxers  beating  at  the 
doors  trying  to  force  an  entrance.  Alone,  in  calmness  of  spirit, 
expecting  at  any  moment  to  pass  through  the  gates  of  sufifering 
and  torture  to  meet  his  God — Plorace  Pitkin  wrote  to  his  wife,  in 
the  home  land,  "Train  up  my  son,  to  take  my  place,  to  save  these 
poor  people."  What  wonderful,  almost  infinite  love !  No  nobler 
deed  has  ever  been  told,  save  that  of  the  man  of  Galilee,  who  said, 


180  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILF-E    CONVENTION. 

as  he  hung  in  anguish  on  the  cross,  "Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do."  And  this  spirit  of  consecration  mani- 
fested by  Horace  Pitkin  as  he  faced  death  is  the  same  spirit 
of  consecration  is  needed  in  every  home  in  our  Church.  Our  price- 
less possessions,  our  sons  and  daughters,  should  be  brought  to  the 
Master  and  laid  on  the  altar  of  service. 

What  the  Moravians  have  done  has  been  an  inspiration  to  many 
a  Church  Board.  They  have  one  worker  in  the  field  for  every  58 
communicants  at  home.  If  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  had 
the  same  proportion,  we  would  have  2091  missionaries  on  the  field, 
instead  of  142.  If  we  cannot  equal  the  Moravian  brethren,  we 
should,  at  least,  rise  to  the  full  measure  of  our  privilege  and 
responsibility.  To  this  end,  duty  knocks  loudly  at  the  door  of  our 
purses.  Our  devotion  to  the  cause  is  to  be  measured,  not  by  the 
length  of  our  prayers,  or  the  size  of  our  tear  drops,  or  the 
eloquence  of  our  speech,  but  by  the  consecration  of  our  gold  and 
our  silver. 

Sisters  of  the  Church,  if  we  have  any  deep  sense  of  the  infinite 
debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  to  the  Saviour  for  our  emancipation 
from  sin  and  tyranny  and  polygamy  and  cursed  widowhood  and 
slavery  and  imprisonment,  is  it  not  time  for  us  to  be  starting  a 
crusade  against  the  extravagances  of  our  present  day  living,  in 
order  that  we  may  send  the  bread  of  life  to  the  perishing  millions 
of  our  sisters  across  the  seas? 

Some  one  has  said,  "Missions  have  progressed  so  slowly  abroad 
because  piety  and  prayer  have  been  so  scarce  at  home."  Perhaps 
we  have  been  relying  too  much  on  machinery  and  methods  and  too 
little  on  the  power  of  our  Commander,  who  said,  "L.o,  I  am  with 
you  alway." 

There  may  be  limitations  to  our  health,  which  prevent  us  from 
giving  our  lives  to  foreign  service;  there  may  be  limitations  to 
our  money,  so  that  we  cannot  give  large  offerings  to  carry  on  the 
work,  but  there  is  no  limitation  to  our  prayers  and  there  is  no 
limitation  to  God's  power  to  answer  and  He  who  has  said,  "If  two 
of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching  anything  that  they  shall 
ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them,"  stands  ready  to  fulfill  His  promise. 

If  there  were  no  Ploly  Spirit,  if  there  were  no  all-conquering 
Christ,  our  efforts  to  lift  up  men  and  women  and  infuse  new  life 
and  light  into  darkened  minds,  would  be  as  useless  as  to  try  to 
"irrigate  the  Sahara  with  a  hose,  or  dam  the  Nile  with  bulrushes." 
Let  us  join  our  hearts  and  voices  with  those  of  our  redeemed 
brothers  and  sisters  in  India  and  Egypt,  that  God  may  arouse  us 


WOMEN  S  WORK  FOR  WOMEN:  ITS  PRESENT.  381 

to  feel  the  weight  of  the  responsibihty  of  souls  that  rests  upon  us ; 
and  as  their  prayers  join  ours  at  the  mercy-seat,  God  will  send 
back  the  answer  by  the  presence  and  power  of  His  Holy  Spirit  in 
tlie  Church  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  present  marks  a  crisis  in  our  foreign  mission  work.  I 
think  of  that  young  color-bearer  in  the  Civil  War,  whose  brave 
deed  has  been  told  for  a  memorial  of  him,  over  and  over  again. 
The  regiment  was  advancing  to  battle  and  he  in  eagerness  ran  on 
and,  almost  at  the  enemy's  line,  planted  the  stars  and  stripes. 
The  Commander,  not  wishing  such  haste,  shouted,  "Bring  back 
that  flag."  For  a  moment  he  hesitated,  then  replied,  "Bring  up 
the  ranks,  I  can't  bring  back  the  flag." 

So  in  our  foreign  work.  The  United  Presbyterian  Church  is 
advancing  on  the  forces  of  Satan,  arrayed  under  Hindu  idolatry, 
Mohammedan  fanaticism  and  Sudanese  savagery. 

The  missionaries  and  our  Boards  have  set  a  high  ideal :  480  new 
workers — the  world  for  Christ  in  this  generation. 

Our  color-bearers  have  run  on  in  advance  and  planted  the  ban- 
ner of  Christ  in  the  very  face  of  the  enemy  and  as  they  see  the 
ranks  halting,  holding  back,  disinterested,  in  agony  of  heart  they 
call  out,  "Bring  up  the  ranks,  we  can't  bring  back  the  flag." 

Tlfank  God,  the  ranks  are  beginning  to  move  as  they  never 
have  done  before  and  the  present  privilege  and  present  opportunity 
are  becoming  the  present  blessing  of  the  Church. 

The  fifty  years  of  history,  on  which  we  look  back,  are  but  the 
foundation.  The  work  of  the  present  time,  with  all  of  its  bless- 
ings and  privileges  and  open  doors,  should  be  viewed,  not  as 
completed  work,  but  as  one  just  well  begun. 

The  ancient  mariners  of  Spain,  as  they  looked  out  over  the 
vast  expanse  of  water  that  lay  to  the  west  of  them,  wrote  high  on 
the  rocks  of  Gibraltar,  "NE  PLUS  ULTRA."  When  a  new 
world  had  been  discovered,  and  the  Atlantic  had  become  the  high- 
way of  commerce,  it  is  said  that  some  new  courageous  mariner 
dared  to  climb  that  rock  and  erase  the  first  word,  leaving  the 
beautiful  sign  to  every  passing  vessel,  "More  beyond." 

Voltaire  prophesied,  that  in  one  hundred  years  the  Bible  would 
be  an  obsolete  book.  How  far  he  was  mistaken  is  evidenced  by 
the  millions  of  copies  that  have  been  scattered  all  over  the  world, 
in  400  dififerent  languages. 

Perhaps,  there  are  some  who  feel  that  the  foreign  mission  work 
of  our  denomination  has  reached  the  zenith  of  its  power,  has 
exhausted  the  resources  of  the  Church  and  would  have  us  take  as 


182  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBIIvEE;    CONVENTION. 

a  motto  for  this  Senii-Centennial  celebration,  "NE  PLUS 
ULTRA"  but  the  eye  of  faith  sees  visions  of  glorious  conquest 
.and  the  hand  of  faith  writes  high  over  the  portals  of  the  New- 
Half  Century,  "MORE  BEYOND." 


WOMEN'S  WORK  FOR  WOMEN:    ITS  FUTURE. 

MISS    ELIZABETH    IRVINE. 

A  few  weeks  ago,  at  the  Moody  Institute,  in  Chicago,  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  Hstening  to  an  address  by  Dr.  Robertson  of  Scot- 
land, and  was  specially  impressed  by  his  remark  that  he  thanked 
God  that  the  Book  of  Acts  was  not  finished,  but  that  the  Spirit 
had  left  it  ragged  at  the  edges,  that  other  chapters  might  be  added. 

A  history  of  missions  during  the  last  century  contains  some  of 
the  longest,  fullest  chapters,  and  yet  others  remain  to  be  written. 

Dr.  Pentecost,  in  an  address  before  the  Ecumenical  Missionary 
Conference,  said:  "Have  you  ever  thought  that  during  this  last 
century  probably  more  progress  has  been  made,  more  converts 
won  to  Christ  from  pagan  nations,  than  during  the  first  four 
centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  with  all  the  prestige  and  power  of 
the  Apostolic  ministry  behind  that  early  missionary  work.  And 
won,  too,  under  conditions  infinitely  harder  than  those  which 
confronted  the  early  Christians." 

For  the  last  half  century  our  denomination  has  had  its  small 
part  in  this  great  work,  and  during  this  Semi-Centennial  meeting 
we  have  recounted  what  Gqd  hath  wrought  through  us. 

The  past  gives  abundant  reason  for  thanksgiving  to  God.  The 
present  is  ripe  with  opportunity.    What  of  the  future  ? 

To-night  we  stand  merely  at  the  threshold  of  the  opened  door 
of  opportunity.  Many  generations  have  been  spent  in  preparing 
the  zvay;  the  past  generation  has  been  spent  in  opening  the  door. 
While  we  are  here,  thrilled  by  a  sense  of  the  presence  and  power 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  shall  we  not  gaze  into  this  opened  door  and 
see  within  One  whose  brow  was  scarred  with  thorns,  looking  at 
us  and  pointing  with  His  pierced  hands  to  the  myriads  for  whom 
He  died? 

Let  us  gather  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  and  renew  our  sense  of 
our  Saviour's  healing  touch,  that  we  may  renew  our  sense  of  our . 
Saviour's  claim.  And  when  we  have  been  touched  and  cleansed 
anew,  'when  our  ears  have  been  attuned  to  the  voice  of  God,  we 
shall  learn  that  the  solemn  voice  by  which  He  makes  His  claim 

183 


184  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

is  made  up  of  ihe  many  voices  by  which  the  nations  speak  their 
needs. 

Mighty  rehgiotis  systems  have  held  sway  for  centuries  in  the 
distant  East.  What  claim  can  have  more  force  than  their  utter 
failure  to  redeem  the  races  of  their  origin?  Even  though  we 
grant  their  good,  yet  the  final  test  must  be,  what,  as  a  whole, 
they  have  made  of  their  people.  Philosophy  has  ruled  among  the 
leaders  of  the  Hindu  races,  and  what  do  we  find?  Personal  re- 
sponsibility is  gone,  for  even  sin  is  from  God.  Moral  power  has 
followed  personal  responsibility  into  its  grave.  The  common 
people  bow  before  idols,  whose  temples  are  sculptured  with  ob- 
scenity. The  temple  prostitution  brings  the  sanction  of  religion 
to  her  shame.  Womanhood  is  degraded.  Child  marriage  legalizes 
lust  and  dooms  millions  of  girl  widows  to  lives  of  ignominy  and 
shame,  and  the  caste  system  brings  sorrow  and  degradation  to 
millions  of  pariahs.  That  is  what  Brahmanism  has  done  for 
India. 

Think,  too,  of  the  claim  of  China.  A  pure  ethical  creed  has  had 
opportunity  for  thousands  of  years.  But,  though  the  creed  is 
pure,  it  fails  to  reveal  a  personal  God,  and  the  outcome  of  an 
agnostic  national  life  is  seen  in  China  to-day.  Moral  strength  is 
absent.  Civil  service  is  dishonest.  Corruption  and  dishonor  are 
found  everywhere.  Opium  smoking  yearly  claims  more  victims. 
It  can  be  truly  said  of  China,  "The  whole  head  is  sick  and  the 
whole  heart  is  faint."     Without  God,  the  land  is  without  hope. 

When  we  turn  to  Africa,  the  voice  is  loud  and  insistent.  Cen- 
turies of  slavery  and  the  slave  trade,  decades  of  the  rum  traffic, 
have  left  their  mark.  The  wrongs  that  greed  has  inflicted  on  the 
Dark  Continent  cry  out  with  claimant  voice. 

Japan  has  already  turned  from  the  old  religion,  but  is  as  a 
house  empty,  swept  and  garnished.  There  is  danger  that  the  evil 
spirit  may  return  with  seven  others  even  more  evil  than  itself. 

So  from  all  the  earth  comes  the  testimony,  that  the  old  religions 
do  not  satisfy  the  human  heart.  A  soul  created  in  the  likeness  of 
God  can  be  satisfied  with  nothing  else  but  God.  And  these  old 
religions,  though  each  contains  some  good  thing,  have  utterly 
failed  to  reveal  God. 

We  find  that  from  many  regions  in  China  comes  the  news 
that  whole  communities  arc  turning  away  from  the  old  creed 
and  are  asking  for  Christian  teachers.  Japan  is  asking  for  the 
Bible,  as  well  as  for  Western  civilization.  The  message  comes 
from  India  that  there  must  be  more  missionaries  to  teach  and 
baptize  the  converts. 


woman's  work  for  women  :  its  future.  185 

So  from  all  the  earth,  from  China  ami  India,  from  Japan  and 
Korea,  from  Africa  and  the  islands  of  the  sea,  comes  the  glad 
news  that  the  world  is  calling  ont  for  Christ. 

Christ's  claim!  It  is  wide  as  the  world  itself  and  deep  as  the 
depth  of  sorrow  and  sin,  which  through  all  the  ages  has  been 
blig-hting  the  lives  of  these  our  brethren.  And  lest  we  be  appalled 
by  the  very  magnitude  of  the  claim,  let  us  look  at  our  encourage- 
ments. First  of  all,  let  the  thought  burn  into  our  hearts  that  the 
world  needs  Christ,  and  begins  to  know  its  need.  Yes,  the  world 
is  accepting  Him.  While  there  are  to-day  probably  not  more  than 
two  million  Protestant  communicants  in  the  foreign  field,  a  con- 
servative estimate  says  that  certainly  more  than  twice  that  number 
have  been  won  from  Paganism  and  will  ultimatel\-  be  baptized. 
Then,  too,  the  Gospel  has  wrought  other  results  that  cannot  be 
measured  nor  summed  up  in  statistics.  It  has  brought  health  of 
body  to  many  that  were  diseased ;  it  has  revolutionized,  to  a  large 
extent,  the  social  condition  of  all  heathendom  into  which  it  has 
penetrated.  The  seed  has  been  sown.  Much  that  lies  dormant 
will  yet  spring  up  and  bring  forth  an  abundant  harvest. 

Then,  too,  we  have  the  encouragement  of  opened  doors.  In 
all  the  world,  not  a  nation  or  country  where  the  Christian  mis- 
sionary may  not  go,  and  go  with  good  assurance  that  his  life  will 
be  protected !  The  church  prayed  for  open  doors.  Political 
changes,  revolutions,  wars,  the  daring  of  commerce  and  discovery, 
air  have  been  pressed  into  God's  service  and  made  subservient  to 
His  will  in  answering  the  prayer.  And  in  God's  Providence  dis- 
tances have  been  annihilated.  Our  missionaries,  in  even  the  most 
remote  districts,  are,  in  point  of  time  and  expense  of  travel,  factors 
by  which  distance  should  be  measured,  much  nearer  than  \\as  the 
Pacific  Coast  fifty  years  ago.  And  steam  and  wire  and  cable, 
God's  messengers,  are  daily  bringing  us  nearer  together,  so  that 
the  foreign  missionary  to-day  suffers  much  less  isolation  than  did 
the  home  missionar}-  a  few  years  ago. 

And  we  have  financial  ability.  He  whose  is  the  silver  and  the 
gold  has  put  them  in  the  hands  of  Plis  people  to  use  in  tlie  ad- 
vancement of  Plis  cause.  Not  only  is  it  true  that  the  Christian 
nations  hold  the  wealth  and  commercial  supremacy  of  the  world, 
but  the  Church  of  Christ,  those  who  are  Christ's  preferred  fol- 
lowers, holds  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  wealth  of  England  and 
America  in  her  own  hands. 

And  we  are  encouraged  by  the  fact  that  so  many  thoroughly 
equipped  young  men  and  women  are  offering  themselves  as  mis- 


186  FORE^IGN    MISSIONARY   JUBIIvEE    CONVENTION. 

sionarics.  The  science  of  the  ages  has  come  with  its  gifts  and 
poured  them  out  at  the  feet  of  this  generation.  Literature,' art, 
medicine,  phikjsopliy  oi  mind  and  nature,  have  enriched  our 
minds  and  muhi])hed  our  powers  and  thoughts. 

Never  before  liave  young  men  and  young  women  had  such 
opportunities,  such  broadening  of  thought  and  sympathy ;  and, 
thank  God,  many  are  offering  these  cultured  minds  and  fervent 
hves  to  the  service  of  King  Jesus. 

When  we  turn  to  the  Word  of  God,  our  encouragement  is  hmit- 
less.  First  comes  His  great  commission:  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  coupled  with  the 
promise,  "Lo,  1  am  with  you  alwa)',  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world,"  and  "All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  Heaven  and  in  earth." 
We  read  again,  "He  must  reign  until  He  hath  put  all  enemies 
under  His  feet"  ;  "His  dominion  is  an  everlasting  dominion  and 
His  Kingdom  from  sea  to  sea"  ;  "All  tribes  of  earth  shall  worship 
Him ;  all  nations  shall  do  Him  reverence." 

Ah  !  w^e  need  no  further  encouragement.  In  face  of  the  fact 
that  Ghristian  missions  are  only  in  their  infancy,  and  that  the 
Church  has  but  begun  to  arouse  to  obedience  to  her  Master's  com- 
mand, missions  are  already  grandly  successful.  But  by  the  na- 
tions" needs,  b\'  the  o])ened  doors,  by  the  rapidity  and  ease  of 
travel,  by  the  ]>utting  into  our  hands  of  the  silver  and  the  gold, 
by  the  granting  to  our  }dung  men  and  young  women  of  such 
thorough  preparation,  as  well  as  by  the  commands  in  His  Word, 
God  is  calling  for  an  advance  movement  in  missions. 

While  w^e  thank  God  that  nuich  has  been  accomplished,  the  past 
century  has  been  onl\-  a  i)reparation.  At  the  cobbler's  bench  and 
the  hay-stack  i)rayer  meeting  the  call  was  sounded,  and  though  it 
was  the  King's  call,  the  res])onse  was  slow.,  lint,  one  denomination 
has  followed  another,  until,  at  last,  every  branch  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  is  enlisted  ;  and  organization  has  followed  organization, 
until  there  is  not  a  denomination  that  has  not  an  auxiliar\  board 
of  women.  It  is  an  army  organized  and  ])re])ared  for  battle,  and 
we  cele1)rate  the  victories  \\nu  l)y  the  regiments  alreadx'  in  the 
field,  but  there  sounds  a  loud  call  for  reinforcements.  Xot  the 
call  of  an  army  at  the  front  being  cut  down  before  the  foe,  not 
that,  but  the  call  of  an  army  grandly  victorious,  recognizing  at 
once  the  strengUi  and  weakness  of  the  enemy,  calling  for  rein- 
forcements that  they  may  speedily  win  still  grander  victories  for 
the  King. 

"C^e  call  is  world-wide.     bLverv  battalion  needs  and  calls  for 


women's  work  for  women:  its  future.  187 

large  reinforcements,  for  doubled  and  trebled  numbers  ;  aye,  for 
numbers  increased  ten-fold. 

It  is  ours,  to-night,  to  consider  what  is  our  duty  in  view  of  the 
call  of  our  regiments  who  are  fighting  the  King's  battles  in  Egypt, 
and  India,  and  the  Sudan.  Our  Master  Himself  points  with  His 
bleeding  hands  to  the  need  of  these  souls  and  says,  "Inasmuch 
as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  Me."  What  shall  we  do?  Shall  we  point  to  what 
we  have  already  done,  and  say  that  our  Egyptian  Mission  is  one 
of  the  best  conducted  and  most  successful  in  the  world  ?  Will  He 
be  satisfied  when  we  say  that  our  denomination  is  almost  at  the 
head  in  liberality.  Can  we  look  into  the  face  of  Him  who  gave 
all.  even  life  itself,  for  us,  and  say.  "Lord,  we  have  done  our 
utmost;  we  can  do  no  more"? 

Fairness  and  honesty  demand  that  we  give  to  each  man  and 
each  woman  an  opportunity  to  know  Christ.  Paul  said :  "I  am 
debtor  to  the  Jew,  the  Greek,  the  barbarian,  or  to  anybody  who 
has  not  what  I  have.  If  Jesus  Christ  is  much  to  me.  I  know  that 
He  can  be  much  to  any  man.  and  I  am  bound  to  feel  the  compul- 
sion of  His  love.  Love  to  Christ  means  loyalty  to  Him.  Ah ! 
there  is  the  test,  do  we  love  much?  Are  we  intensely  loyal? 
Several  months  ago.  near  the  beginning  of  the  Russian-Japanese 
war,*I  was  in  Southern  California.  The  orange  groves  there  are 
largely  cared  for  by  Japanese  laborers.  At  the  very  outbreak  of 
the  war  such  numbers  of  them  returned  to  Japan  to  join  the  army 
that  it  was  difficult  to  get  the  orange  crop  gathered,  and  those 
who  remained  denied  themselves  almost  of  the  necessities  of  life 
that  they  might  send  their  earnings  back  to  the  fatherland  to  swell 
the  war  fund.  Is  it  wonderful  that  such  patriotism,  such  loyalty, 
seems  to  be  meeting  success  even  in  the  face  of  superior  numbers  ? 
The  lesson  is  plain.  Are  we  loyal,  as  loyal  to  our  Master  as  are 
the  Japanese  to  the  Mikado.  Do  we  really  love  our  Master,  our 
Commander?  \\'ere  He  to  ask  us  the  question  three  times,  as 
He  did  the  impetuous  disciple,  how  would  we  reply?  "Lovest 
thou  ]\Ie  ?"  "Yea,  Lord  ;  but  I  love  pleasure  and  ease  and  luxury." 
"Lovest  thou  !Me?"  "Yea,  Lord;  but  I  must  live  somewhat  in 
the  style  of  my  richer  neighbor."  "Lovest  thou  Me?"  "Yea, 
Lord ;  but  I  have  already  done  more  than  many  others  do."  But 
we  hear  our  Master's  voice,  "Feed  my  sheep,"  coupled  with  that 
other,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  earth  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture." Judged  by  the  way  our  love  finds  expression,  dare  any 
of  us  say  as  did  Peter,  "Lord,  Thou  knowest  all  things.  Thou 
knowest  that  I  love  Thee?" 


188  FORE^IGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE;    CONVKNTION. 

Intense  love  to  Christ  means  extensive  sympathy.  If  Christ  is 
everything  to  me,  as  much  as  in  me  Hes  I  will  take  Christ  to  every 
man.     I  will  let  my  light  shine  where  the  darkness  is  greatest. 

When  Jesus  said,  "Love  your  neighbor,"  he  meant  the  man  that 
needed  you,  and  your  nearest  neighbor  is  the  man  that  needs  you 
most.  Some  groping  soul  in  the  Sudan  may  just  now  be  your 
nearest  neighbor,  because,  in  the  interest  of  God's  Kingdom,  he 
needs  you  worse  than  does  any  member  of  your  home,  any  one  of 
your  friends  or  even  any  member  of  your  Sabbath  school  class. 
There  are  more  than  sixteen  million  souls  in  the  mission  fields 
entrusted  to  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  who  have  just  as 
much  right  before  God  to  know  the  best  there  is  in  life  as  you 
and  I  have.  They  have  as  much  right  to  live  in  the  light  of  God's 
love.  Why  do  we  not  teach  them  ?  Do  we  love  much  ?  Our  love 
is  measured,  not  by  our  words,  but  by  our  loyalty  and  obedience. 

If  this  Semi-Centennial  meeting  is  to  mean  anything  to  us  and 
to  the  cause  which  we  represent,  it  must  mean,  first  of  all,  a  new 
measure  of  love  in  our  hearts.  We  have  recounted  what  God 
hath  wrought.  We  have  felt  His  very  presence.  Let  none  of  us 
dare  to  return  to  our  homes  until  we  have  looked  into  our  Father's 
face  long  enough  to  realize  the  greatness  of  His  love  to  us  and 
to  the  world.  We  must  have  such  a  vision  of  God  as  did  the 
prophet  of  old,  when  he  saw  the  Lord,  high  and  lifted  up,  and 
heard  the  voice  crying,  Holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts ;  the 
whole  earth  is  full  of  Llis  glory;  we  need  to  know  His  majesty 
and  greatness,  that  we  may  know  the  infinity  of  His  tenderness 
and  love.  When  we  get  such  a  vision  of  God,  we  will  do  as 
did  Isaiah :  fall  on  our  faces  before  Him  and  cry  out,  "woe  is 
me,  for  I  am  unclean."  Ah !  If  we  can  get  such  a  vision,  the 
material  things  of  life  will  sink  into  their  proper  relations,  and  we 
shall  realize  that  our  citizenship  is  in  Heaven,  and  in  our  manner 
of  life,  of  speech,  of  dress,  we  will  be  governed  by  the  fashion  of 
our  Fatherland. 

Have  we  not  forgotten  too  much  in  the  past  that  we  are  am- 
bassadors for  Christ,  sent  to  represent  His  cause  and  His  honor 
before  a  foreign  court,  and  thoughtlessly,  perhaps,  but  none  the 
less  truly,  somewhat  concealed  our  honor  and  dignity,  and  have 
assumed  the  manner  of  the  alien  country,  as  though  we  desired  to 
become  naturalized  citizens  there.  Behold  the  greatness  of  the 
change,  from  being  bond  slaves  to  being  ambassadors  from  the 
court  of  the  King,  and,  as  though  that  dignity  were  not  sufficient, 
adopted  into  the  royal  family,  with  the  rights  of  kinship  with  the 


women's  work  for  women:  its  future.  189 

King's  son.  Princes  of  the  royal  blood !  Let  us  not  forget,  for 
even  a  moment,  our  dignity,  and  live  on  the  mean  and  low  plane 
of  those  who  do  not  belong  to  the  King's  family.  Our  duty? 
It  is  never  to  forget  that  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  to  rep- 
resent Him  in  our  manner  of  living,  in  the  things  that  occupy 
our  mind  and  time  and  thought.  Paul  realized  this  when  he  said, 
"For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ." 

As  women  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  this  definite 
work  is  before  us.  We  are  to  represent  Christ,  in  our  homes,  to 
our  nearest  neighbor,  to  our  social  circle  of  friends,  and  to  those 
with  whom  we  have  business  dealings,  even  to  the  clerk  behind 
the  counter,  the  maid  in  our  kitchen,  and  the  woman  in  our 
laundry.  Are  there  not  spheres  of  influence  that  we  sometimes 
forget?  What  does  your  husband,  your  family,  think  of  Christ 
as  represented  by  you?  What  does  your  maid  think  of  Him? 
But  if  for  you  and  me  "to  live  is  Christ,"  it  does  not  stop  there. 
Christ  said,  "In  Jerusalem  (your  home),  in  Judea  (those  near 
you),  in  Samaria  (those  whom  you  dislike),  and  even  to  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth." 

So,  while  not  forgetting  our  homes,  and  all  those  about  us, 
and  those  with  whom  we  have  dealings,  even  those  whom  we  do 
not  like,  we  must  think  of  the  "uttermost  parts  of  the  earth." 

In  the  Providence  of  God,  certain  provinces  of  India,  the  land 
of  Egypt  and  the  Sudan  have  been  assigned  as  mission  fields  to 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  and  we  are  responsible  for  their 
evangelization.  Certain  parts  of  the  work  have  been  undertaken 
by  our  Woman's  Missionary  Societies,  and  we  shall  give  account 
not  to  the  Boards  of  the  Church,  nor  to  the  General  Assembly, 
but  to  the  Master  Himself. 

As  we  look  toward  the  future,  no  new  plans  or  methods  seem 
necessary.  Some  departments  need  to  be  extended,  but  the  estab- 
lished methods  and  plans  are  good.  No  business  is  better  con- 
ducted than  foreign  missions.  No  loan  or  trust  company  charges 
so  small  a  per  cent,  for  administration.  Yet  we  recognize  that,  if 
the  world  is  soon  to  be  evangelized,  much  more  must  be  done. 

We,  as  a  denomination,  have  scarcely  begun  to  realize  the  im- 
portance of  the  work  of  the  Christian  physician,  who,  by  healing 
diseased  bodies,  makes  men  willing  to  hear  of  Him  who  heals  sin- 
sick  souls. 

The  story  of  the  man  who  went  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho  and 
fell  among  thieves  would  probably  not  have  been  written  if  the 
Samaritan  had  only  tried  to  instruct  him  how  to  worship  God 


190  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE;    CONVENTION. 

as  did  his  fathers.  Instead,  he  bound  up  his  wounds,  pouring  in 
oil  and  wine,  the  best  antiseptic  dressing  available,  and  carried 
him  to  the  inn  and  paid  for  his  care.  And  we  read  of  our  Master, 
our  great  Example,  that  He  was  moved  with  compassion  when 
they  brought  unto  Him  their  sick  and  He  healed  them  every  one. 
It  is  the  plan  of  every  mission  to  build  up,  as  soon  as  practicable, 
a  self-supporting,  self-propagating  church,  and  to  do  this  we 
must  have  a  native  ministry  and  teaching  force,  and  each  mission 
has  its  schools,  colleges  and  theological  seminary.  They  are  surely 
needed,  but  is  it  less  necessary  to  have  also  a  Christian  Medical 
College,  to  educate  native  physicians,  both  men  and  women,  who 
shall  go  about  not  only  teaching  and  preaching  the  Gospel  of  the 
Kingdom,  but,  after  the  example  of  the  Master,  healing  diseases 
and  so  gaining  such  confidence  that  their  message  shall  be  as  seed 
on  good  ground? 

But  if  our  work  abroad  is  to  grow,  our  work  at  home  must 
grow.  Mrs.  Barr  has  told  us  that  in  our  missionary  society  we 
have  but  26^00  members.  It  is  estimated  that  there  are  55,000 
women  in  our  Church  who  do  not  belong  to  the  Missionary 
Society.  Perhaps  this  may  be  a  liberal  estimate,  but  still  the  fact 
remains  that  perhaps  not  more  than  one-third  of  those  who  ought 
to  be  interested  in  the  extension  of  Christ's  Kingdom  show  their 
interest  in  this  way. 

A  great  advance  step,  then,  must  be  to  get  all  of  our  women 
into  the  Society,  and  to  this  end  we  must  put  forth  our  most 
enthusiastic  effort.  While  we  continue  to  hold  meetings  and 
circulate  printed  information,  we  must  do  much  more  of  the 
personal  heart-to-heart  work.  The  child  of  God  has  no  right  to 
make  even  a  call  that  is  not  to  His  glory'  but,  in  our  efforts  to 
avoid  cant,  we  are  apt,  in  our  social  intercourse,  to  discuss  subjects 
that  are  trivial,  if  not  worse  than  trivial,  rather  than  the  things 
that  concern  the  Kingdom  of  God.  A  systematic  and  continued 
efifort  has  been  successful  in  some  congregations  in  getting  every 
woman  to  become  a  member  of  the  missionary  society,  and  if  we 
make  such  earnest,  loving  effort,  as  we  should,  we  ought  to  suc- 
ceed in  at  least  doubling  our  membership  before  our  next  general 
meeting. 

But  mere  membership  in  the  society  is  not  enougli ;  it  counts 
for  little.  Earnestness,  prayer  fulness  and  liberality  are  needed. 
How  shall  our  societies  become  more  effective?  How  better  than 
by  setting  before  ourselves  our  great  responsibility  for  these  more 
than  sixteen  million  souls  in  Egypt,  and  India,  and  the  Sudan, 


\\()Mi:.\"'S  \\')KK   I'OU   WC.MilN:    ITS   iTTruK.  101 

\vli(>  will  not  hear  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unless  we  tcil  theni. 
Aijproximately,  one  hundred  and  forty  times  the  membership  of 
our  Chureh,  more  than  sixteen  million  persons  absolutely  depend- 
ent upon  us  for  a  knowledge  of  God. 

A  stupendous  undertaking!  But  love  to  God  requires  it.  He 
loves  these  even  as  He  loves  us.  He  has  commanded  and  we 
must  obey.  Honesty  and  fairness  demand  it.  We  are  citizens  of 
Christian  nations  because  of  foreign  missions  in  the  early  cen- 
turies. 

They  demand  it,  because  these  and  the  unborn  millions  yet  to 
come  have  as  much  right  to  know  God  and  live  in  the  light  of 
His  love  as  we  have.  We  cannot  escape  our  responsibility.  But 
lest  the  magnitude  of  the  task  cause  us  to  shrink,  let  us  remember 
that  we  are  not  to  undertake  it  in  our  own  strength  nor  at  our 
own  charges.  Earthly  monarchs  stand  for  the  honor  and  dignity 
of  their  ambassadors,  and  protect  them  even  with  their  armies 
and  their  battleships.  How  much  more  the  King  of  Kings.  His 
forces,  though  invisible,  are  yet  at  our  command. 

Elisha  did  not  pray  that  God  should  send  the  chariots  and 
horses,  but  only  that  the  }oung  man's  eyes  should  be  opened  that 
he  might  see  them.  They  were  already  there.  Christ  said,  "All 
po\ver  is  given  unto  me  in  Heaven  and  in  earth.    Go  ye  therefore." 

Our  duty,  then :  It  is  to  move  forward  ;  no  shrinking,  but 
advance  all  along  the  line.  Our  missionaries  have  shown  the 
need  of  reinforcements.  God  by  His  Providence  is  pointing 
forw^ard.  We  have  the  ability.  Many  of  our  young  people  are 
peculiarly  fitted.  His  is  the  silver  and  the  gold.  Shall  we  hold 
for  our  own  selfish  use  that  which  He  has  put  in  our  hands  only 
that  we  may  use  it  for  Him?  Let  it  not  be  said  of  us  as  was  said 
of  one  of  the  tribes  of  old :  "The  children  of  Ephraim,  being 
armed  and  carrying  bows,  turned  back  in  the  day  of  battle.  ' 

Behold  our  Lord  Himself  in  the  person  of  these  in  Egyp<.,  and 
India,  and  the  Sudan,  beseeching  us  to  bring  the  bread  and  water 
of  life.  Listen  as  He  says,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  unto  one  of 
the  least  of  these,  ye  did  it  not  unto  me."" 

God  forbid  that  any  of  us  go  from  this  convention  to  our  homes 
without  a  new  vision  of  God,  a  new^  love  and  obedience,  a  new 
consecration,  and  a  new  resolve,  from  henceforth,  "for  to  me  to 
live  is  Christ." 


THURSDAY  MORNING. 

The  Truth  About  Love:     Rev.  W.  C.  Williamson,  D.D. 

Fifty    Years    of    Mission    Work    in    India:      Rev.    J.    K.    Mc= 
Clurkin,  D.D. 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  LOVE. 

TTIE    RKV.    \V.    C.    WILLIAMSON,    1).    D. 

Philippiaus  i :  o-i  r:  And  this  I  /rav.  that  your  /otv  may  abound 
yet  more  and  more  in  knozvledgc  and  in  all  judgment ;  that  yc  may 
approve  things  that  are  execllent:  that  ye  may  be  sincere  and 
without  offence  till  the  day  of  Christ ;  being  tilled  with  the  fruits 
of  righteousness,  wJiich  are  by  Jesus  Christ  unto  the  glory  and 
praise  of  God. 

Love  is  the  one  word  about  which  the  truth  centers  in  this 
Scripture.  But  love  is  a  very  comprehensive  term,  and  it  may  be 
well  to  single  out  the  one  kind  of  love  we  are  to  have  in  mind  in 
our  search  for  the  truth  about  it  in  this  word.  It  is  not  the  love 
of  God  for  man,  l)ut  the  love  of  man  for  God.  And  that  as  it  is 
found  in  the  heart  of  saints  only.  It  is  to  tlie  saints  this  letter  is 
addressed  and  for  such  the  Apostle  prays.  So  it  is  the  love  of  a 
Christian  for  Christ,  the  love  of  a  child  of  God  for  his  Father, 
the  love  of  the  called  of  God  for  the  blood-bought  Church  of  the 
Redeemer,  that  we  are  to  find  out  something  about.  It  is  the  fruit 
of  the  Spirit,  and  first  named  by  himself  when  he  speaks  of  the 
gifts  that  owe  their  existence-  to  his  presence  in  the  heart  and  on 
that  account  of  deepest  interest  to  all  who  know  how  to  appreciate 
his  gracious  work.  For  this  hour  of  devotion,  to  what  could  our 
attention  be  directed  more  fittingly,  than  to  this  one  princi])l(^  that 
fills  so  large  a  place  in  the  Christian  life?  It  is  at  once  the  soul  of 
devotion  and  the  source  of  it.  In  all  worship,  service  and  sacrifice 
for  Christ,  it  is  the  one  element  upon  which  God  looks  with  great- 
est delight. 

A  recognition  of  its  existence  in  the  hearts  of  the  saints  to  whom 
the  Apostle  writes  is  the  starting  point  of  all  that  is  said  about 
love  in  these  words.  Yet  more  and  more  opens  the  way  to  that 
suggestion.  I  do  not  know  where  one  would  look  for  a  company 
of  people  of  whom  the  same  thing  might  be  assumed  more  nat- 
urally than  of  such  as  are  gathered  here  this  morning.  Here  are 
missionaries  of  the  cross,  ministers  of  tlie  Gospel,  men  and  women 
from  far  and  near,  gathered  in  the  interests  of  Christ  and  his 
kingdom.     Love  is  throbbing  in  such  hearts  as  surely  as  in  the 

195 


196  fore;ign  missionary  jubilee  convention, 

heart  of  the  saint  who  so  prayed  or  the  saints  for  whom  he  so 
prayed.  But  what  about  it  as  found  to  exist  in  your  heart  and 
mine  this  hour?  First  of 'all,  it  may  increase  and  that  without 
Hmit.  It  may  aliound  yet  more  and  more.  A  Hteral  rendering  of 
the  word  would  be,  I  pray  that  your  love  may  abound  a  little  over 
and  above.  Increasing,  if  not  in  great  leaps  and  bounds,  at  least 
little  by  little,  day  by  day. 

No  matter  how  long  you  may  have  loved  Christ,  you  can  love 
Him  more  and  more.  No  matter  how  much  you  love  the  Saviour, 
you  may  love  him  more.  There  is  yet  room  for  a  larger  place  in 
each  heart  here  for  tlie  things  around  which  the  afifections  of  a 
saint  entwine  themselves.  And  even  when  it  has  abounded  yet 
more  and  more,  far  beyond  the  present  state,  it  may  yet  abound,  on 
and  still  on  without  limit.  It  is  not  of  many  things  that  the 
same  may  be  said.  Through  a  long  period  and  to  great  propor- 
tions some  things  in  the  natural  world  grow,  but  there  is  a  limit. 
Starting  with  the  acorn,  the  oak  grows  through  age  after  age,  but 
finally  it  reaches  maturity  and  then  comes  decay.  Starting  with 
infancy,  man  physically  grows  for  a  score  of  years  and  more,  only 
to  be  followed  in  time,  by  infirmity,  disease,  decay,  and  death.  In 
the  realm  of  grace  and  the  Spirit's  gifts,  some  may  run  their 
course,  or  conditions  change,  so  that  they  pass  away,  but  love 
never.  Life  ends  here  for  saints  as  well  as  sinners,  but  neither 
life  nor  love  end  with  the  death  of  saints.  And  there  with  God 
in  heaven,  it  may  abound  yet  more  and  more  as  surely  as  here. 
Whilst  God  shows  to  such  the  exceeding  riches  of  His  grace 
in  His  kindness  towards  them  in  Christ  Jesus,  age  after  age, 
will  not  the  heart  warm  and  the  emotions  be  stirred  even  beyond 
wliat  they  may  have  been  here  and  as  a  result  increase  through- 
out tlic  ages  to  come.  It's  worth  while  to  cherish  a  grace  that  ad- 
mits of  such  increase  and,  with  all  attainments  made  here,  goes 
with  us  into  the  home  of  God  above,  there  to  be  exercised  under 
more  favorable  conditions  and  go  on  increasing  with  less  to  ob- 
struct and  more  to  favor  its  increase  forever.  Second,  we  find  in 
/best'  words  one  condition  essential  to  its  increase,  ^'ou  have  it 
all  in  the  word  knowledge.  The  head  opens  the  way  for  the  hea^t 
to  act.  And  that  in  the  direction  of  love  or  hate.  One  may  have 
some  regard  for  a  person  on  short  acquaintance,  less  on  more  in- 
timate acquaintance.  Could  a  like  efTect  attend  our  knowledge  of 
any  object  of  Christian  affection,  then  the  less  we  know  of  them 
the  better.  I'ut  can  one  know  anything  about  God,  who  ]o\'od  the 
world  so  that  lie  sent  llis  only  begotten  Son  into  the  world  that 


THK  TRUTH  ABOUT  LOVR.  197 

sinners  might  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  hfe?  Can  one 
know  anything  about  His  Son,  whose  love  moved  Him  to  lay  down 
His  precious  life,  that  sinners  might  not  die,  but  live?  Can  one 
know  anything  about  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  condescends  to  dwell 
in  these  bodies  for  a  manifestation  of  love  equal  to  that  of  the 
Father  and  Son,  and  find  the  heart  growing  cold,  and  the  af- 
fections chilled  by  such  acquaintance  with  the  Triune  God? 
Love  can  have  no  beginning  without  knowledge.  Neither  can  it 
increase  without  knowledge.  In  order  to  great  love  there  must 
be  great  light.  A  bulb  with  the  germ  of  life  hidden  away  within 
its  husks  may  be  planted  in  the  soil,  watered  and  set  away  in  the 
dark  for  a  few  days,  but  it  must  not  be  kept  there  too  long  or  it 
will  perish.  Out  of  the  dark,  into  the  light  let  it  be  set  and  then 
the  hidden  life  within  reveals  itself  in  the  living  stalk,  out  of 
which  comes  the  bud  bursting  into  the  full  bloom  of  an  Easter  Lily, 
filling  the  air  with  its  fragrance  and  charming  every  onlooker  with 
its  beauty.  The  germ  of  the  good  work  begun  in  tlie  human 
heart  is  love,  it  does  not  need,  even  for  a  day  or  an  hour  to  be 
kept  in  the  darkness  or  in  hiding  from  the  light.  From  the  first 
heart  beat  of  devotion  to  Christ  it  lives  and  thrives  best  when  the 
truth,  illuminated  by  the  Spirit,  lets  in  upon  it  the  light  from  the 
Sun  o^  righteousness,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  impart  vitality, 
vigor  and  beauty  with  ever  increasing  fullness  and  glory.  Did  not 
our  hearts  burn  within  us?  Yes,  and  why?  Because  the  Risen 
One  was  at  our  side.  Was  that  all  ?  O,  no.  That  Risen  One 
became  a  teacher ;  He  opened  to  them  the  Scriptures.  With  that 
came  the  rekindling  into  a  flame  of  the  slumbering  embers  of  a 
love  about  ready  to  perish.  If  you  would  love  much,  then  know  the 
one  thing  essential  to  its  greatness  and  growth  is,  in  following  on 
to  know  the  Lord. 

Our  interest  in  having  it  abound  yet  more  and  more  finds  much 
to  intensify  and  sustain  it  in  the  truth  about  its  effects  as  in- 
dicated in  these  words.  There  is  a  three-fold  effect.  First  by  way 
of  fulfilling  the  office  of  a  judge.  The  import  of  the  word  judg- 
ment here  used  is  in  the  way  of  one  whose  office  it  is  to  examine 
into  a  thing  and  pass  upon  it,  either  to  approve  or  condemn.  As 
is  often  the  case  the  word  in  the  margin  comes  to  our  aid,  by  way 
of  what  is  meant  by  love  abounding  in  all  knowledge  anil  judg- 
ment. As  with  the  exercise  of  any  one  of  the  senses,  so  is  one 
under  the  influence  of  love.  By  the  sense  of  hearing,  there  are 
sounds  that  give  pain,  and  there  are  sounds  that  afiford  pleasure : 
bv  the  sense  of  taste  some  things  nauseate,  other  things  delight ; 


198  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

h\  the  sense  of  sig-lit  some  things  upon  which  we  look  excite  horror, 
other  things  afford  satisfaction.  And  so  by  these  senses  we  pass 
upon,  either  to  approve  or  disapprove.  Through  the  senses  some 
things  repel,  others  attract.  To  a  Christian,  intelligent,  growing 
love  becomes  a  sixth  sense.  By  it,  one  discriminates  and  in- 
stinctively turns  away  from  the  evil  and  >ields  to  that  which  is 
good.  In  some  degree,  such  become  like  God,  who  cannot  look 
upon  iniquity  and  to  whom  sin  is  horrible,  but  holiness  is  his  de- 
light and  in  it  he  finds  real  pleasure.  With  such  love,  the  heart 
becomes  very  sensitive,  resenting  the  evil  but  embracing  the  good 
and  in  time  coming  to  find  satisfaction,  not  in  the  commonplace, 
l)ut  in  that  which  has  most  of  excellence  and  real  worth.  And  thus 
it  is  that  God  Himself  comes  to  have  attractions  and  commands  de- 
votion above  all  others  and  all  things.  With  this  effect,  there  comes 
a  second,  and  that  most  natural,  too.  Loi'e  Jws  an  expelling  and  at 
the  same  time  an  attractive  pozvcr.  That  which  is  antagonistic  to 
its  nature  must  go  out  and  that  wdiich  is  in  harmony  with  its 
nature  is  drawn  within.  And  this  process  tends  to  cleanness  of 
heart  and  purity  of  life  within.  And  so  w^e  have,  in  time,  a  heart 
sincere  and  without  offence  in  the  day  of  Christ.  It  takes  time, 
but  all  the  while  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  so  as  love  increases. 
A  pure,  clean,  living  stream  of  water  poured  into  a  pool  of  filthy, 
muddy  water  will  in  time  cleanse  it  completely,  so  that  the  trees 
that  line  its  banks  will  reflect  their  image  in  its  clear  waters.  In  its 
early  stages,  the  heart  into  which  love  finds  its  way  has  much  of 
remaining  corruption  and  little  of  holiness.  But  with  its  increase 
the  unclean  is  crowded  out  and  the  clean  finds  its  way  into  the 
heart  taking  the  form  of  the  image  of  Christ,  with  ever-increasing 
outline  of  distinctness.  The  truth  in  all  this  may  be  made  to  appear 
in  this  wav ;  if  in  some  manner  one  could  see  into  the  heart-work- 
ings f)f  such,  there  would  be  nothing  to  offend,  but  much  to 
commend,  Ijecause  of  the  sincerity  and  genuineness  of  all  that  goes 
on  in  such  a  heart.  And  in  time  such  become  transparently  good 
even  to  the  searching  eyes  of  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth.  It  will 
not  always  do  to  go  behind  the  scenes  in  the  life  of  such  as  pro- 
fess Christianity.  Because  a  look  beneath  the  surface  reveals 
hypocrisy  and  the  doings  of  things  to  be  seen  of  men.  But  where 
love,  intelligent,  growing  love  reigns,  it  is  always  safe  to  look 
over  into  the  heart  because  it  is  free  from  deceit  and  sham.  Open 
up  the  heart  of  such  to  the  sunlight,  let  angels  and  men  look  within, 
and  tlioiigh  there  mav  be  imperfections,  there  will  not  be  found 
wanting  lh:it  sincerity  and  truth  .so  essential  to  true  worship  and 


Tl-IK  TRUTH  ABOUT  LOVE).  199 

service  before  God.  The  truth  about  it  will  be  that  the  very  best 
part  of  such  lives  will  be  found  lying  back  in  the  soul.  Then 
comes  the  third  thing  to  commend  the  truth  about  love  in  these 
words.  That  is  the  effect  of  it  on  the  outward  life.  Out  of  the 
heart  are  the  issues  of  life.  Out  of  a  heart  that  resents  evil  and 
that  has  an  affinity  for  the  good  and  pure  alone,  out  of  a  heart 
becoming  more  and  more  sincere  day  by  day,  what  can  issue  but 
the  fruits  of  righteousness  which  are  by  Jesus  Christ  unto  the 
])raisc  and  glory  of  God.  The  heart  governs  the  hands,  the  feet, 
the  man  and  the  result  must  be  an  upright  walk  and  good  work c 
vet  more  and  more  as  love  abounds.  A  good  tree  cannot  bring 
forth  evil  fruit.  Trees  of  righteousness  such  become,  with  love 
as  the  sap  reaching  to  every  root  and  branch  making  fruit  possible 
as  from  a  tree  of  healthy  growth.  And  all  through  Jesus  Christ. 
Because  love  owes  its  start  to  Him,  its  substance  to  Him,  its  exer- 
cise to  Him,  and  its  effects  to  Him. 

All  in  all,  love  has  much  to  commend  it  to  every  one  in  what  is 
here  said  about  it.  And  the  effect  ought  to  be  to  make  us  covet 
earnestly  this  great  gift.  And  all  the  more  when  we  reach  out 
from  these  words  and  find  that  the  more  we  have  of  this  grace, 
the  more  we  are  like  God,  for  God  is  love ;  and  the  more  we 
let  it  influence  our  conduct  and  become  the  controlling  prin- 
ciple'*in  our  lives,  the  closer  we  are  likely  to  conform  to  the 
will  of  God,  for  all  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word,  love.  The 
more  we  have  of  this  gift  of  the  liol_\'  Ghost,  the  more  surely 
do  we  come  into  possession  of  that  which  is  greatest  and  best 
in  the  Christian  life,  for  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  charity,  but 
the  greatest  of  these  is  charity.  Had  we  the  eloquence  of  men  and 
angels  combined  in  one,  and  have  not  charity,  we  would  be  but  as 
sounding  brass  and  tinkling  cymbals.  Were  we  able  with  pro- 
phetic vision  to  forecast  the  future,  had  we  ability  to  penetrate  all 
mysteries  and  find  out  their  hidden  meanings,  had  we  that  kind 
of  faith  that  could  say  to  the  mountain.  Be  thou  removed  and 
cast  into  the  sea,  and  find  it  obedient  to  our  command,  and  have 
not  love,  then  still  we  are  nothing.  Though  we  were  rich  and 
could  willingly  impoverish  ourselves  to  the  relief  of  the  poor, 
though  we  could  face  the  trials  and  endure  the  sufferings  of  such 
as  yield  to  the  martvr's  fate  and  have  not  love,  it  would  profit 
nothing. 

With  such  an  exhibition  of  its  merits,  and  the  large  place 
it  fills  in  the  Christian  life,  may  we  not  in  our  backward  look 
over  fifty  years  of  missionary  activity,  find  that  we  have  not  seen 


200  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILIJe;    CONVEINTION. 

all  the  glory  of  that  past  or  talked  of  the  power  that  made  it 
possible,  until  we  have  seen  what  an  important  place  love  had  to 
fill  in  all  that  history?  It  must  have  been  a  trying  experience  to 
become  a  foreign  missionary  fifty  years  ago.  It  is  yet.  But  it  was 
possible  for  some  even  in  the  days  when  there  was  no  welcome 
awaiting  them  in  that  far  away  field;  it  is  now  with  all  of  trial 
and  sacrifice  required.  What  made  it  possible  then  and  what 
makes  it  so  still  ?  I  do  not  believe  any  satisfactory  answer  can  be 
found  for  that  question,  save  the  one  suggested  by  what  is  said 
about  love  in  these  words.  Love  abounding  in  the  heart,  and  that 
alone,  makes  possible  the  devotion  equal  to  the  demands  of  the 
service  for  Christ  in  the  foreign  field.  And  what  of  the  next  half 
century  ?  Shall  we  not  gather  out  of  these  words  one  truth  to  take 
with  us  into  the  work  of  the  next  fifty  years  of  missionary  work 
at  home  or  abroad?  Of  all  things  essential  to  great  results,  love 
must  be  regarded  not  as  the  least,  but  possibly  as  the  one  thing 
upon  which  great  things  for  the  future  depend  more  than  on  all 
else.  Love  opens  the  hands  that  hold  the  gold  and  silver;  love 
makes  it  possible  for  fathers  and  mothers  to  surrender  their  sons 
and  daughters  to  the  claims  of  Christ;  love  makes  it  easy  for  the 
sons  and  daughters  to  give  themselves  to  the  work,  and  hence  it 
would  seem  but  the  truth  to  say,  that  with  love  abounding  in  the 
hearts  of  all  God's  people,  all  other  essentials  will  be  laid  at  the 
feet  of  the  Saviour  and  the  work  not  want  for  anything.  In 
closing,  I  come  back  to  the  first  sentence  in  this  Scripture,  to  these 
words,  "and  this  I  pray." 

I  spent  a  Sabbath  some  years  ago  in  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa.  I  was 
entertained  that  night  in  a  home  where  an  old  man  of  four  score 
years  and  more  of  Christian  life  was  spendnig  his  last  days.  He 
retired  somewhat  earlier  than  I  did.  Later  when  I  was  taken  to  my 
room  for  the  night,  I  found  it  next  to  his,  with  only  a  board 
petition  between  the  two.  Whether  I  would  or  not,  I  could  not  but 
hear  him  talking  aloud  to  some  one.  I  found  he  was  pouring  out 
his  heart  to  God.  With  the  simplicity  of  a  child  talking  to  his 
father,  with  the  unction  of  one  who  felt  that  none  but  God  was 
])resent  to  hear,  he  talked  to  God  about  his  children,  his  pastor, 
his  church  and  the  cause  of  Christ.  It  was  a  sweet  hour  of  prayer, 
abotU  the  sweetest  that  I  ever  enjoyed.  It  is  a  kMig  time  since 
Paul  lived,  and  yet  to  have  had  these  words  before  us  this 
hour,  words  that  fell  from  his  lips  while  on  his  knees  before  God, 
it  seems  very  nnich  as  though  he  had  been  for  that  time  in  an 
adjoining  room,  with  only  a  board  petition  between  us.     And  so 


THE  TRUTH  ABOUT  LO\J?.  201 

we  have  heard  him  pray  as  men  pray  when  their  hearts  are 
moved  as  the  Spirit  moves  upon  the  soul  in  prayer.  With  the 
interest  born  of  the  part  he  had  in  giving  the  Chm-eh  its  start 
in  PhiHppi,  he  was  thinking  of  Lydia,  whose  heart  the  Lord 
opened,  the  evidence  of  which  he  had  in  her  hospitahty  toward 
him.  Also  of  the  jailer  and  his  household  who  loved  Jesus,  the 
proof  of  which  he  had  in  the  ministries  of  love  that  night  when  he 
set  this  man  down  to  the  best  he  could  provide  for  him  at  his  own 
table  and  washed  the  clots  of  blood  from  his  back  in  return  for 
his  love  to  him.  What  would  that  experience  and  that  Spirit  of 
grace  and  supplication  move  him  to  pray  for  in  their  behalf?  Love 
yet  more  and  more.  Even  so  may  we  get  help  from  the  Spirit  that 
we  may  know  what  to  pray  for  as  we  ought.  And  this  at  least 
must  have  a  place  in  our  prayers  before  the  throne  of  grace  each 
one  for  himself  and  herself,  each  for  the  other  and  all  for  tlie 
Church  of  Christ.  Take  it  into  your  hearts,  go  with  it  to  the 
prayer-hearing  God  and  cease  not  to  say,  I  pray  that  love  may 
abound  yet  more  and  more,  in  knowledge  and  all  judgment,  that 
we  may  be  sincere  and  without  offence  till  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ, 
abounding  in  love,  in  good  works,  which  are  to  the  praise  of 
God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  !^JISS1()X  WORK  TX  IXDIA. 
riii':  Ri-\.  J.  K.   m'clukkix.  d.d. 

I- ask  vou  to  look  in  thoui;ht  to-day  uix^n  India — a  land  Stran^^e 
in  History;   Dark  in  Sin;    I5ri,yht  with  IVoniise. 

The  river  Inckis  is  on  the  West,  the  sacred  Ganges  on  the 
East.  Its  plains  are  fertile  and  seamed  with  rivers  from  the 
perpetual  snows  of  the  Himalayas. 

India  reaches  two  thousand  miles  from  North  to  South.  In 
the  United  States  it  wou^cl  equal  the  territory  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Nine-tenths  of  its  whole  population  is  rural,  living 
mostly  in  little  villages,  yet  it  has  great  cities,  like  Madras,  Bom- 
hav  and  Calcutta,  cities  that  are  in  the  eye  of  the  whole  world. 

The  lofty  Himalayas  are  "dra^vn  like  a  scimitar"  around  the 
northern  border.  They  have  stood,  like  lonely  sentinels,  through 
the  centuries  to  guard  the  land  against  the  northern  invader.  We 
talk  a1)out  mountains  in  America.  Wc  would  be  compelled  to 
take  Mt.  Washington,  in  New  Hampshire,  Avith  its  6000  feet,  ])ut 
it  on  the  top  of  Pike's  Peak,  in  Colorado,  with  its  14,000  feet,  and 
then  we  would  have  an  elevation  of  20,000  feet,  only  a  convenient 
]:)latform  from  which  to  survey  2000  peaks  reaching  from  20,000 
to  27,000  feet  in  height.  In  the  Himalayas  we  are  on  the  roof  of 
the  world.  We.  as  mission  workers,  owe  much  to  the  mountains 
of  earth,  for,  as  the  .Vile  gives  life  to  Egypt  from  the  rains  in  the 
Abyssinian  mountains,  so,  in  India,  the. winds,  sweeping  across 
the  Indian  Ocean  and  the  Arabian  Sea.  carrying  the  moisture 
northward  in  their  Ihglit,  find  in  the  rugged  slopes  of  the  Hiiua- 
layas  "colossal  condensirs  turning  back  the  fertilizing  moisture  of 
the  monsoon"  and  gi\ing  the  valleys  the  most  abundant  rainfalls 
6f  earth. 

SiK'h  is  India  with  its  throbbing  life  of  three  hundred  mil- 
lions of  the  human  race,  one-liftb  the  jxtpulation  of  the  globe, 
sur])ass(.(l  only  by  that  of  China,  four  limes  as  great  as  that  of  the 
United  .'-States  and  eight  times  as  closclv  ])acked  together. 

Hie  key  that  unlocks  for  us  the  door  of  India's  authentic 
history  is  about  4000  years  old.  The  date  is  about  the  time  when 
Abraham  crossed  the  l^ipbrates   for  the  West.     The  conquering 


mi'TY  YliAKS  Ol^  MISSION  WORK  IN  INDIA.  203 

Aryan  race,  coming  from  somewhere,  probably  from  Central  Asia, 
penetrated  the  northwestern  mountain  passes,  crossed  the  Indus 
and  invaded  the  Punjab.  This  same  Aryan  household  afterwards 
wielded  the  scepter  of  Rome,  spoke  in  the  learning-  of  the  Greeks, 
and  1300  years  ago,  in  the  woods  of  Northern  Europe,  laid  aside 
their  wolfskin  garments  and  their  Pagan  customs  and  sat  down  at 
the  feet  of  the  Saviour.  These  ties  of  kinship  have  been  woven 
into  the  warp  and  woof  of  human  history,  and  make  the  Plindu  of 
to-day  our  brother,  according  to  the  flesh. 

This  morning  I  ask  you  to  look  upon  India  as  though  it  were 
a  picture  upon  a  canvas.  As  we  study  this  picture  we  will  note 
three  facts : 

1.  The  Dark  Background. 

2.  The  Breaking  of  Mission  Light. 

3.  Our  Own  United  Presbyterian  Star  in  the  North. 

I.     The  Dark  Background. 

In  looking  at  this  background  I  will  note  some  of  the  shadows: 
The  first  sJiadozv  is  Caste.  The  ancient  Vedic  hymn  of  the  Aryan 
conqueror  says:  "The  king  who  gives  wealth  to  the  priest,  him 
will  tije  gods  protect."  So  around  this  Aryan  gathered  the  priests. 
First,  those  who  slew  the  victim  and  dressed  the  altar.  Second, 
those  who  chanted  the  Vedic  hymns.  Third,  those  reciting  other 
parts  of  the  service.  Fourth,  the  overseers  superintending  all  the 
worship. 

Only  a  short  sttp  from  these  i)rimitive  conditions  and  we  have 
the  four  castes — the  warriors,  the  pric'sts,  the  husbandmen  and  the 
servile  class  of  the  vanquished  aborigines.  This  system  of  caste 
has  been  so  extended  that  its  ramifications  include  9000  castes  to- 
day. This  is  one  of  the  great  impediments  to  the  Gospel.  It  is 
the  "cement  that  holds  together  the  great  temple  of  idolatrous 
superstition.''  Although  the  Gospel  and  the  railroads  are  breaking 
down  its  thick  walls,  still  the  dark  shadow  of  caste  overspreads 
the  land,  destroying  personal  accountability,-  deadening  conscience 
and  making  custom,  the  custom  of  the  caste,  the  master  of  the  life. 

The  second  sliadoii'  is  the  doctrine  of  tlie  Transmigration  of  the 
Soul.  These  Aryan  conquerors  were  Brahmans.  Their  religion, 
starting  with  the  thought  that  man  has  kinship  with  every  form  of 
life,  from  the  plant  and  the  beast  to  the  Divinity,  opened  before 
him  the  wearisome  path  of  transmigration.  There  being  8,400,000 
forms  of  life  connected  with  or  related  to  his  life,  h'e  might  be 


204  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

compelled  to  go  on  almost  unceasingly  from  birth  to  re-birth.    His 
poet  despairingly  cries : 

"How  many  births  are  past?    I  cannot  tell. 

How  many  still  to  come?     No  man  can  say; 
But  this  alone  I  know,  and  know  full  well, 
That  pain  and  grief  embitter  all  the  way." 

After  millions  of  births  Nirvana  is  reached.  This  simply  means 
that  the  soul  has  disappeared,  "has  blown  out;"  been  absorbed  in 
an  impersonal,  universal  essence.  In  this  dark,  cold,  cheerless 
prospect  for  the  future  we  can  hear  India's  heartbreaking  wail  for 
the  good  news  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

A  third  shadozv  is  Buddhism.  Buddha  was  born  about  550 
B.  C.  He  was  a  reformer.  His  life  was  upright.  He  emphasizes 
personal  morahty.  His  system  Avas  a  protest  against  the  Brahm- 
anic  tyranny  of  caste.  His  principle  was  one  of  brotherhood. 
He  opened  religion  to  all  classes,  to  the  low  as  well  as  to  the  high. 
But  he  had  no  place  for  a  personal  God.  Prayer  had  only  at  best 
a  magical  influence,  and  could  be  as  well  performed  by  a  praying 
machine.  Neither  was  there  anything  in  the  future  to  look  for- 
ward to,  except  extinction.  Although  his  system  was  pushed  with 
missionary  vigor,  although  it  has  become  the  religion  of  five 
hundred  millions  of  our  race,  yet  Buddhism  lost  its  hold  in  the 
land  of  its  birth,  and  in  India  to-day  there  are  not  more  than  ten 
million  Buddhists.    Still  it  is  a  shadow  on  the  background. 

The  fourth  sliadozv  is  M ohammedanisui.  From  1000  A.  D.,  for 
eight  hundred  years,  India  was  subjected  to  repeated  invasions  of 
Mohammedans.  Tamerlane  and  the  Great  Moguls  overran  India. 
Moslems  were  stationed  everywhere.  Although  India  has  never 
been  converted  to  Mohammedanism,  yet  to-day  62,000,000  in 
India,  one-fifth  of  her  population — one-third  of  all  Mohammedans 
in  the  world — are  followers  of  the  False  Prophet. 

It  is  the  irony  of  history  that  this  great  population  of  Moslems 
should  be  under  the  scepter  of  a  Christian  land. 

The  Hfth  shadozv  is  a  flitting  shadow.  It  is  denser,  darker  some- 
times than  at  other  times.  Shadows  are  often  helpful  and  refresh- 
ing. India  is  a  land  that  needs  shadows.  Here  is  a  shadow — 
sometimes  a  help,  sometimes  a  blessing — it  is  the  shadozv  of  the 
conqueror. 

From  the  days  when  the  navy  of  Solomon  brought  the  riches  of 
India  to  Jerusalem  all  nations,  by  caravan  and  ship,  have  sought 
her  wealth. 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  MISSION  WORK  IN  INDIA. 


205 


When  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  rounded  Europe  seemed  "to 
take  ship  for  India." 

Tlie  Portuguese  were  the  first  to  enter.  They  planted  a  mari- 
time empire  that  reached  from  Japan  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
They  were  supreme  in  the  East  for  precisely  a  century,  from  1500 
to  1600,  but  they  had  neither  the  personal  character  nor  the  mili- 
tary resources  to  enable  them  to  maintain  their  position.  To-day 
Portugal  has  only  a  little  strip  of  territory  on  the  Bombay  coast — 
a  little  greater  in  size  than  Rhode  Island.  France  was  scarcely 
more  successful.  Her  generals  were  brave  and  brilliant,  but  they 
were  not  supported  by  the  nation  at  home.  France  has  now  only  a 
little  possession  in  India,  with  a  population  of  a  quarter  of  a 
n.iillion. 

The  Dutch  also  failed.  They  based  their  power  upon  an  unjust 
mono])oly  of  the  spice  trade,  and  when  in  London  the  price  of 
pepper  rose  from  3  to  8  shillings,  British  merchants  made  an  in- 
dignant protest,  and  the  East  India  Company  was  formed. 

FVom  1700,  for  150  years,  it  held  India  in  its  grasp.  Great 
names  in  history  appear  in  connection  with  the  East  India  Com- 
pany:  Robert  Clive,  Warren  Hastings,  Cornwallis  (fresh  from 
the  surrender  at  Yorktown) ,  Lord  Wellesley,  Lord  Amherst  and 
Lord  Qalhousie. 

Although  the  East  India  Company  changed  many  evil  customs 
and  God  used  them  to  prepare  His  way  in  India,  yet  the  Company 
was  not  the  friend  of  the  missionary.  As  late  as  1813  they  turned 
from  the  borders  of  the  empire  Adoniram  Judson,  America's  first 
herald  to  India.  As  late  as  1793  the  following  sentiment  appeared 
on  their  records : 

"The  sending  of  missionaries  into  our  Eastern  possessions  is 
the  maddest,  the  most  extravagant  and  the  most  unwarrantable 
project  ever  proposed  by  a  lunatic  enthusiast." 

In  1848  the  Crown  of  England  assumed  royal  prerogatives,  and 
England  still  holds  India  as  her  precious  prize.  Her  government 
there  is  a  complicated,  but  well  arranged,  machine.  At  its  head 
is  a  Viceroy,  changed  every  few  years  at  the  will  of  the  home  gov- 
ernment and  subject  largely  to  the  House  Secretary  for  India, 
residing  in  London.  The  highest  officer  in  our  district  of  the 
Punjab  is  the  Lieutenant  Governor. 

In  the  civil  service  of  India  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
the  sons  of  India  are  employed. 

On  January  i,  1877,  \'ictoria  was  crowned  Empress  of  India 
at  Delhi. 


206  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

In  1886  the  last  portion  of  Burma  was  added  to  the  Indian 
Empire,  while  into  Baluchistan  and  Afghanistan  the  zone  of 
Britain's  influence  was  extended. 

As  mission  workers  we  should  be  gratified  that  both  our  mission 
posts  are  under  the  protection  of  old  England,  whose  drum  beat  is 
heard  around  the  world.  The  vexatious  governmental  impedi- 
ments that  have  hindered  the  work  of  other  denominations  in 
other  lands,  we  have  known  comparatively  little  about. 

England's  rule  in  India  can  be  severely  and  justly  criticised. 
The  low  type  of  Christianity  displayed  by  her  accredited  repre- 
sentatives; the  opium  trade  forced  at  the  point  of  the  sword  upon 
an  unwilling  nation ;  the  revenue  from  intoxicating  drink ;  the 
forgetfulness  of  the  Sabbath,  are  governmental  influences  that 
dim  the  lustre  and  the  beauty  of  the  Christian  faith  before  the 
heathen.  On  the  other  hand,  much  more  can  be  said  for  Britain 
in  India  than  can  be  said  against  her  rule.  She  honors  the  mis- 
sionary ;  she  makes  official  reports  commending  their  work.  One 
of  her  governors  has  publicly  said  that  Britain's  dream  of  regen- 
erating India  with  the  vigors  and  robustness  of  the  West  can  be 
realized  only  by  the  evangelization  of  India.  Britain  has  abolished 
the  burying  of  lepers  alive  and  the  burning  of  widows  alive,  the 
exemption  of  the  Brahman  from  capital  punishment  and  the  dis- 
franchising of  Christian  converts.  She  has  spanned  the  rivers 
and  constructed  roads.  By  steam  and  electricity  she  has  opened 
safe  lines  of  communication  through  remotest  jungles.  Our  lady 
missionaries  can  travel  through  India  almost  with  the  same  safety 
as  in  the  United  States.  Her  schools  are  helping  to  undermine 
false  faiths.  She  makes  donations  of  real  estate  to  missions  and 
secures  the  property  of  missions.  In  a  thousand  ways  Britain  is 
helping  to  pay  back  the  debt  of  the  West  to  the  East.  "A  debt 
that  has  been  standing  since  the  morning  of  creation." 

I  cannot  note  all  the  shadows.  Poverty  is  one.  Poor  people ! 
Millions  of  them  are  fighting  every  day  to  keep  away  starvation. 
Laborers  receive  daily  6  cents  and  artisans  15  cents.  Their  bright- 
est mental  picture  of  America  is  that  it  is  a  land  where  the  people 
can  have  two  meals  a  day. 

Ignorance  is  another  shadozv.  Throughout  the  empire  onlv  five 
in  a  hundred  can  read.  This  average  would  be  lower  were  it  not 
for  the  culturcvl  class  in  the  cities.  There  are  great  comnuniities 
where  only  i  in  2000  can  read.  One  congregation  is  cited  by  our 
Secretary  where  only  14  in  a  membership  of  250  could  read. 
Surely  this  is  the  pall  of  night. 


FIl'TY  YEARS  OI?  MISSION  WORK  IN  INDIA.  207 

Before  tuniini;-  from  this  liackgrouml  ice  must  look  at  one  more 
shadoic.  It  is  modern  Hinduism:  that  dark  shadow  with  which 
wc  are  face  to  face  in  Tncha  now.  Coining  from  the  ancient  \'cdas 
of  ancient  Brahmanism.  inHuenced  and,  at  one  time,  somewhat 
elevated  by  Buddjiism,  it  commands  to-day  the  allegiance  of  260,- 
000,000  people  in  India.  It  offers  gods  many  and  lords  many ; 
3.300,000  of  them  in  men,  plants  and  beasts  like  the  cow,  the  ser- 
pent and  the  monkey.  As  one  has  said.  "In  India  all  is  God,  save 
God  Himself." 

The  river  (ianges.  coming  from  the  toe  of  the  great  god  \'ishnu, 
is  lined  with  temples  and  alive  with  priests,  because  its  waters  will 
cleanse  the  blackest  sin  and  whiten  the  darkest  character. 

In  the  courtyard  yonder  of  that  family  of  high  caste  what  are 
the  women  doing?  They  are  walking  around  the  tulasi  plant  108 
times,  in  prayer;  the  right  shoulder  turned  toward  the  plant,  not 
the  left,  or  the  efficacy  of  prayer  would  be  gone.  From  their 
worship  the  life  has  fled  ;  perhaps  not  two  in  a  thousand  ever  think 
of  any  meaning  behind  the  external  rite.  Therefore,  while  laugh- 
able, it  is  logical  that  they  should  sometimes  teach  a  parrot  to 
utter  the  name  of  a  god,  the  merit  accruing  to  the  owaier.  Says 
one:  "Of  twenty-two  ceremonial  acts  daily  performed  in  a  great 
temple^in  Ovissa,  ten  had  to  do  with  the  idol's  dress  and  nine  with 
the  idol's  meals.  Their  priests  are  little  more  than  valets  or  butlers 
to  their  gods." 

I  cannot  speak  of  the  long  pilgrimages  undertaken,  hundreds  of 
miles  painfully  measured  oft"  upon  hands  and  knees.  I  dare  not 
speak  of  the  lustful  revelries  of  their  priestesses. 

Modern  Hinduism  is  perhaps  the  deepest  shadow  which  darkens 
India  to-day. 

II.     The  Breaking  of  Mission  Light  Upon   the  Scene  in 
India. 

Two  of  the  New  Testament  apocryphal  books,  dating  from  the 
second  century,  connect  the  life  of  the  Apostle  Thomas,  called 
Didymus.  with  mission  work  in  India.  It  is  a  common  early 
tradition. 

At  the  end  of  the  second  century  Pantaenus.  the  head  of  a 
Christian  school  in  Alexandria,  attempted  to  lead  Brahmans  in 
India  to  the  feet  of  the  Saviour. 

At  the  Council  of  Nice,  325,  Johannes,  metropolitan  of  Persia, 
signed  his  name  Johannes  of  the  Great  India,  indicating  some 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction. 


20^  FORKIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

!M-(>ni  the  fifth  conturw  for  a  thousand  years,  the  Nestorians, 
(h'iven  Irom  Africa  and  Europe,  gave  to  India  its  only  type  of 
Christianity.  Althouoh  they  passed  through  the  fires  of  the 
Popish  Inquisition,  and  although  they  number  one-half  of  a  mil- 
lion in  India  to-day,  yet,  as  Dr.  Smith  has  said,  "Their  faith  was 
Avcak.  their  message  mutilated  and  they  could  not  bring  India  to 
Christ." 

In-  1542  the  great  Romish  apostle,  Francis  Xavier,  entered 
India,  lie  spent  seven  years  in  the  land,  ringing  his  bell  and 
proclaiming  the  Gospel.  Although  he  left  India  discouraged,  yet 
Roiue  numbers  more  than  half  a  million  in  India  at  present.  That 
Rome  has  gained  a  somewhat  strong  hold  is  not  strange  for  two 
reasons :  First,  the  Jesuits  have  made  concessions  to  the  system 
of  caste  and  incorporated  much  of  it  into  their  system ;  second, 
their  worship  of  saints  by  images  is  closely  allied  to  the  worship 
of  the  idol,  "the  main  difference  being  that  the  Romish  image  is 
greater  in  size."  But,  if  it  is  easy  for  the  Hindu  to  become  a 
Romanist,  it  is  just  as  easy  for  him  to  go  back  to  Hinduism.  It 
is  not  sur]:)rising  then  to  find  by  the  last  census  that,  while  Prot- 
estant denominations  increased  'jy  per  cent.,  Catholicism  decreased 
8  ])er  cent. 

Cilancing  down  the  decades  we  note  the  Dutch  missions  and 
over  them  write,  "Weighed  and  found  wanting."  The  keenest  of 
historians  has  condensed  the  reasons  for  their  failure  into  this  one 
word — sine  Christo  Christiani ;  Christless  Christians. 

We  now  note  a  galaxy  of  four  stars  of  the  first  magnitude,  by 
which  the  light  of  missions  broke  with  clearness  upon  India.  Had 
the  cause  of  foreign  missions  given  to  the  kingdom  only  these 
four  names,  still  it  would  be  a  beneidiction'to  the  Church  at  home 
and  abroad : 

(1  )  Ilcnvy  Martyii. — He  had  studied  the  life  of  David  iJrain- 
crd.  the  apostle,  among  the  Indians  of  North  America,  and  by  that 
reconl  was  moved  to  give  his  life  to  the  field  in  India.  He  left 
England,  saying:  "l\arewell,  Europe.  I  have  no  desire  to  see 
thee  again.  A'et  India  will  not  be  the  land  of  my  rest.  My  life  is 
with  Christ.  My  home  is  beyond."  Within  the  space  of  six  years 
he  became  famous  in  India  as  a  ])reacher  and  as  a  translator.  His 
health  failing,  be  started  liomeward,  but  sank  down  in  the  midst 
of  his  1500-mile  horseback  ride  toward  Constantinople.  Pillowing 
his  head  on  the  fourteenth  Psalm,  with  no  friendly  hand  to  care 
for  him.  he  died  among  strangers  in  Tokat  in   1872,  at  the  age  of 


FIFTY  VKARS  OF  MISSION  WORK  IN  INDIA.  209 

31.    His  seraphic  life  and  his  lonely  death  sent  a  thrill  for  missions 
throughout  the  home  land. 

(2)  William  Carey. — Only  one  hundred  and  eleven  years  ago 
day  after  to-morrow  Carey  landed  in  India  and  began  the  work 
of  laying  the  foundations  of  modern  missions  in  the  empire.  He 
was  a  cobbler,  the  son  of  a  weaver.  He  could  not  work  on  a  farm 
in  England  because  of  the  heat,  and  yet  for  forty-three  years  he 
was  enabled  to  toil  in  the  heat  of  India.  He  waited  seven  years 
for  his  first  convert.  He  translated  the  Word  of  God  into  thirty- 
five  languages  or  dialects.  This  might  be  the  epitome  of  his  life, 
a  monument  of  what  God  can  do  through  one  man  when  unre- 
servedly surrendered  to  the  Master. 

(3)  The  next  star  is  Claudius  Buclianan,  whose  life  was  in- 
strumental in  giving  birth  to  the  greatest  Protestant  missionary 
organization  in  the  world,  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  his 
publication,  "The  Star  in  the  East,"  fired  the  heart  of  a  young 
man  away  amid  the  hills  of  New  England.    He  was : 

(4)  Adoniram  Judson,  our  fourth  star. 

Some  talk  of  the  ftmereal  progress  of  Foreign  Missions.  Let 
us  not  forget  that  Judson  and  his  company  were  the  first  foreign 
missionaries  from  America,  and  left  her  shores  only  ninety-three 
years ''kgo.  People  said  that  Judson  was  foolish  for  declining  a 
call  to  Park  Street  Church,  Boston,  with  its  roll  of  a  thousand 
members.  But  think  of  the  issues.  He  became  the  great  apostle 
of  Burma.  He  first  mentions  the  name  of  the  Karens  only 
seventy-eight  years  ago.  To-day  there  are  35,000  Karens  mem- 
bers of  the  Christian  Church,  and  probably  as  many  more,  in  this 
period,  have  died  in  the  communion  of  the  Church.  What  hath 
God  wrought ! 

In  a  word,  India  has  been  and  is  a  land  of  missions.  More 
mission  workers  are  toiling  there  now  than  in  any  other  mission 
land  on  earth.  A  hundred  missionary  societies  are  at  work,  and 
one  hundred  and  thirty  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations 
are  in  active  operation.  Six  hundred  missionaries  are  sleeping  in 
India's  soil.    Mission  light  is  breaking. 

III.     Our  Own  United  Presbyterian   Star  in  the  Xortii. 

When  Columbus  set  forth  he  was  seeking  a  way  to  India ;  when 
his  vessels  touched  the  shores  of  the  Western  world  he  thought 
that  he  had  been  successful.  He  was  right,  but  the  way  by  which 
the  Lord  would  reach  India  through  America  was  more  wonder- 
ful than  the  dreams  of  the  great  navigator.     Here  is  one  of  the 


210  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILIJE:    CONVENTION. 

paths  that  God  has  opened  from  America  to  India  and  along  which 
tlie  heralds  of  the  King  have  been  joyfully  passing. 

On  a  stormy  night  a  little  company  of  five  was  gathered  in  the 

Second  United  Presbyterian  Church  of  Allegheny.  Their  names 
are  Dr.  Rogers,  I\Irs.  Lockhart,  Mrs.  Gordon,  James  McCandless 
and  John  Alexander.  Their  thoughts  and  love  went  out  to  India, 
and  they  decided  to  try  to  point  the  energies  of  their  brethren  in 
that  direction. 

In  1854  the  Associate  Synod,  meeting  in  Albany,  New  York, 
after  much  deliberation,  called  upon  the  Rev.  Andrew  Gordon,  a 
graduate  of  Franklin  College  and  Canonsburg  Seminary,  to  begin 
for  them  mission  work  in  India.  When  that  call  was  extended  to 
Dr.  Gordon  the  Church  had  in  her  Foreign  Mission  Treasury 
$135.  Since  then  the  field  has  expanded  and  the  money  has  in- 
creased. Jlas  our  faith  in  God's  leading  and  providing  power 
correspondingly  increased  ? 

At  12  o'clock,  in  Xcw  York  harbor,  September  28,  1854,  on  the 
little  ship  "Sabire."  tlicre  was  an  exodus  for  India.  The  faith  re- 
quired was  like  that  of  Aliraham  when  he  went  out  from  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees. 

Dr.  Gordon,  Mrs.  Gordon,  their  little  one  and  Miss  Elizabeth 
Gordon  were  leaving  behind  parents  and  grandparents  and  start- 
ing for  India.  They  drifted  wearily  southward  over  many  leagues 
of  ocean's  calm.  In  contracted  quarters  they  sailed  away  by  South 
America.  They  passed  amid  the  icebergs.  They  rounded  the 
Cape  of  (iood  Hope.  They  sailed  for  139  days  over  17,000  miles 
of  ocean.     At  length  they  land;   it  is  Feliruary,  1855. 

l'"or  1400  miles  Dr.  Gordon  made  his  way  northward.  As  to 
faith  and  fortitude,  I  can  compare  that  journey  only  to  the  travels 
of  Paul  as  he  entered  the  great  and  unknown  world  of  Europe, 
lie  had  chosen  Sialkot,  in  the  northern  province  of  the  Punjab, 
which  only  five  years  before  had  been  annexed  to  the  British  pos- 
sessions. Thus  our  missionary  work  would  not  encroach  upon 
that  of  other  churclics.  The  climate  is  cooler  and  the  bracing 
weather  is  longer.  So,  this  herald  of  the  Cross,  single  handed  and 
alone,  crosses  inlo  "the  province  of  the  five  rivers."  The  Pmijab  is 
entered  in  Christ's  name,  and  in  our  name. 

Twenty-two  hundred  years  before,  the  Punjab  resounded  to  the 
con(|ucring  tread  of  the  armies  of  Alexander  the  Great.  Mow 
Gordon,  almost  without  scrip,  enters  the  Punjab.  Which  is  the 
conqueror?     Would  you   for  a  moment  comj)are  the  coronet  of 


FIFTY  YIvARS  OF  MISSION  WORK  IN  INDIA.  211 

Alexander  with  the  Crown  of  Glory  upon  the  brow  of  Andrew 
Gordon  ? 

He  reached  Sialkot  in  August,  1855,  with  $17  in  his  pocket. 
Ground  was  soon  bought  and  a  building  commenced,  yet  a  whole 
year  passed  after  leaving  New  York.  It  brought  him  but  two 
letters  from  the  Home  Board,  and  these  contained  no  money. 

We  cannot  measure  the  perplexing  embarrassments  which  he 
met.  So  slowly  did  they  move  in  those  days  that  when,  in  the 
spring  of  1855,  the  home  Church  appointed  two  additional  mis- 
sionaries— the  Rev.  Ephraim  Stevenson  and  wife  and  the  Rev. 
R.  A.  Hill  and  wife — they  were  almost  at  the  coast  of  India  before 
Dr.  Gordon  knew  that  they  had  been  appointed. 

Slowly,  did  I  say?  How  fast  did  this  tree  of  God's  planting 
grow  in  Sialkot ! 

September  28,  1854. 

May  13,  1857. 

Two  years,  seven  months  and  two  weeks.  How  much  has  been 
accomplished — how  does  the  Sialkot  Mission  stand?  Three  mis- 
sionaries, their  wives  and  Miss  Gordon  on  the  ground.  Two  na- 
tive helpers  at  work — George  Washington  Scott  and  E.  P.  Swift. 
Homes  for  the  missionaries  and  helpers  completed ;  two  schools  in 
operatk)n ;  an  orphanage  begun ;  numberless  books  distributed  and 
evangelistic  work  commenced,  reaching  on  one  expedition  as  far 
as  Zafarwal. 

But  why  did  I  mention  May  13th?  Oh!  It  is  1857.  The 
Portuguese  had  held  the  reins  in  the  East  just  one  hundred  years, 
from  1500  to  1600.  The  one  hundredth  anniversary  was  now  ap- 
proaching, commemorating  the  great  battle  of  Plassey,  by  which 
Clive  had  established  British  rule  in  India.  A  rumor  was  going 
throughout  the  land  that  England's  power  would  disappear  at  the 
close  of  the  hundred  years,  as  that  of  the  Portuguese  had  done. 
There  were  in  Northern  India  70,000  Sepoys,  or  native  soldiers, 
trained  by  British  officers.  Like  a  bolt  out  of  a  cle^r,  calm  sky  the 
mutiny  broke  out  on  May  13th:  1500  Christians  were  murdered; 
37  missionaries,  chaplains  and  their  families  were  slain.  Not  a 
case  is  verified  where  life  was  purchased  by  a  denial  of  Christ,  save 
the  instance  of  an  army  officer  and  some  Portuguese  boys. 

On  the  14th  a  letter  to  Dr.  Gordon  from  the  military  authorities 
commanded  him  to  cease  work  and  conveyed  the  startling  secret 
message:  "The  Sepoys  at  Delhi  have  mutinied  and  the  Eu- 
ropeans are  massacred." 

There  were  2200  armed  Sepoys  in  Sialkot.     Our  missionaries- 


212  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILE;E    CONVENTION. 

hardly  dared  to  speak  above  their  breath.  Did  the  natives  know 
what  had  happened  at  Delhi?  Were  they  silently  plotting  the 
murder  of  the  Europeans  ?  Watchmen  were  kept  upon  the  roofs 
of  the  mission  homes  all  night.  Those  were  days  that  tried  both 
faith  and  bravery.  It  was  decided  that  Dr.  Gordon,  with  the 
women  and  his  dying  boy,  little  Silas,  would  seek  refuge  in 
Lahore,  and  the  other  missionaries  would  follow  later.  In  the 
dead  of  night  Dr.  Gordon  and  the  women  start  on  the  perilous 
journey  of  seventy  miles  to  Lahore,  through  a  country  in  a  state 
of  insurrection.  The  creak  of  a  water  wheel,  the  hoot  of  an  owl 
or  the  rustle  of  a  leaf  made  the  heart  almost  stop.  In  the  dis- 
tance they  see  approaching  a  company  of  Sepoys.  Dr.  Gordon 
draws  his  revolver,  rides  forward  a  little,  and  all  await  the  issue 
with  bated  breath.  But  these  Sepoys  were  loyal — the  mission- 
aries were  never  safer  in  their  lives.  The  arm  of  their  Heavenly 
Father  was  around  them,  and  within  the  gates  of  Lahore  they  all 
found  refuge.  At  the  bedside  of  little  Silas  Gordon,  just  as  he 
breathed  his  last  and  the  physician  said,  "He  is  happy  now,"  came 
the  message:  "Sialkot  is  plundered  and  burned,  and  some  of  your 
closest  friends,  including  Rev.  Mr.  Hunter  and  wife,  missionaries 
from  Scotland,  are  murdered." 

After  four  months  Delhi  was  retaken  and  India  saved  for 
Britain.  As  long  as  men  love  the  thrilling  and  the  heroic,  so  long 
will  they  recall  the  scenes  at  Lucknow  and  Cawnpore ;  so  long  will 
they  speak  with  martial  pride  of  "the  coming  of  the  Campbells." 
As  long  as  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  stands  she  will 
gratefully  remember  how  a  loving  Father  saved  all  her  own  mis- 
sionaries in  the  Sepoy  mutiny  and  massacre,  and  how,  when  they 
returned  to  Sialkot,  our  mission  property,  to  the  surprise  of  all, 
was  found  safe  and  secure. 

Listen  to  these  statistics.  Statistics,  did  I  say?  They  are  the 
tracings  of  the  finger  of  God.  One  hundred  and  two  missionaries 
during  these  fifty  years  have  followed  Dr.  Gordon's  footsteps  from 
America  to  India.  We  have  now  in  India  20  ordained  mission- 
aries and  their  wives ;  29  unmarried  women  missionaries ;  i  col- 
lege professor ;  2  medical  women  missionaries.  Thus  we  have  in 
this  Mission  72  missionaries  from  America,  a  number  reminding 
lis  of  the  apostolic  band  whom  the  Saviour  sent  forth,  two  by  two, 
to  evangelize  the  world.  With  these  are  linked  321  native  helpers 
—393  i"  '-ill. 

Our  field  in  size  is  equal  to  Texas.  The  population  of  the  field 
is  more  than  five  millions.     Institutions:  One  svnod.  the  Svnod  of 


FIFTY  YEARS  OF  MISSION  WORK  IN  INDIA.  213 

the  Punjab;  four  presbyteries,  Sialkot,  Gujranwala,  Gurdaspur 
and  Rawal  Pindi ;  twenty-eight  organized  congregations ;  one  col- 
lege, Gordon  College,  with  sixty-two  students ;  one  theological 
seminary,  with  fifteen  students ;  eight  hospitals  and  dispensaries ; 
four  boarding  schools ;  two  industrial  schools ;  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six  schools  in  all,  giving  to  seven  thousand  and  five  hundred 
of  the  boys  and  girls  of  India  a  sanctified  learning.  We  have  a 
membership  of  more  than  nine  thousand.  Last  year  125 1  con- 
fessed Christ.  Within  the  last  three  years  thirty-eight  per  cent, 
of  our  membership  has  been  gained,  thus  proving  God's  continued 
presence  with  us. 

Note  that  of  our  twenty-eight  congregations  six  are  self-sup- 
porting— this  in  a  land  where  millions  never  pass  a  day  without 
feeling  the  pangs  of  hunger  and  where  ninety  per  cent,  of  our 
membership  comes  from  the  poor  classes.  We  at  home  may  learn 
profitable  lessons  in  liberality  from  our  poor  brothers  and  sisters 
in  India. 

Standing  by  our  Ebenezer  to-day,  looking  back  along  the  path 
of  these  fifty  years,  we  find  that  thirteen  of  our  Indian  mission- 
aries have  gone  home  to  God. 

Reverently,  lovingly,  we  repeat  their  names : 

Rev.  Andrew  Gordon,  died  1887. 

Mrs.  Rebecca  Gordon,  died  1900. 

Rev.  E.  H.  Stevenson,  died  1879. 

Rev.  R.  A.  Hill,  died  1902. 

Mrs.  Hill,  died  1875. 

Of  this  little  original  band  of  missionaries  one  still  lingers  with 
us.  Miss  Elizabeth  Gordon,  in  whose  presence  we  rejoice  to-day. 

Within  a  period  of  six  months  death  called  for  these  three  of 
our  Indian  missionaries : 

Rev.  James  P.  McKee,  died  1899. 

Rev.  D.  S.  Lytle,  died  1899. 

Rev.  Robert  Reed  McClure,  died  1900. 

Woman,  too,  has  broken  her  alabaster  box  at  the  feet  of  the 
Master  in  India: 

Mrs.  Jean  Anderson. 

Mrs.  Lydia  Martin. 

Mrs.  Edna  Morrison. 

Mrs.  Jane  L.  Porter. 

Mrs.  Mary  Scott. 

These  faithful  women  died  at  their  posts  and,  resting  in  the 
distant  Punjab,  are  awaiting  the  coming  of  the  Lord.    Who  can 


214  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

doubt  that  this  little  company  of  thirteen  disciples,  about  the  same 
in  number  as  the  little  company  whom  Jesus  chose  to  sit  at  His 
first  table  and  to  witness  for  Him  in  a  sinful  world,  are  sitting 
with  Him  to-day  in  the  upper  room  of  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem  ? 

Brothers  and  sisters  in  Christ,  amid  all  the  varied  toil  and  part- 
ing scenes  of  mission  life,  this  deep,  abiding  hope  grows  stronger 
and  brighter,  "We  shall  meet  at  Jesus'  feet." 

Now  give  me  your  hand  for  a  moment  and  let  us  take  a  hasty 
walk  through  our  mission  districts.  I  deeply  regret  that  I  cannot 
name  all  the  missionaries  nor  visit  all  the  stations. 

We  start  at  Sialkot.  Here  the  first  two  converts  were  won  in 
1859,  one  from  the  lowest  caste,  the  other  from  high  caste.  Here 
our  first  church  building  went  up  in  1859  by  money  all  contributed 
in  India — thirteen  hundred  dollars.  Here  is  the  Memorial  Hos- 
pital imder  Dr.  Maria  White.'  Jesus  opened  the  way  to  the  human 
heart  oftentimes  by  healing  the  body.  So  our  missionaries  have 
been  opening  the  way  into  India  by  the  hospital.  Here  is  a  fine 
building  in  Sialkot,  the  Christian  Training  Institute,  something 
.like  Mr.  Aloody's  Northfield  Schools.  From  the  first  our  mis- 
sionaries have  recognized  that  the  hope  of  India  lies,  not  in  the 
importation  of  foreign  workers,  but  in  the  training  of  the  native 
worker. 

Now  we  are  at  the  Girls'  Boarding  School.  Here  you  will 
pause  if  you  have  read:  "One  Hundred  Girls  in  India."  These 
girls  entered  into  the  sweetness,  joy  and  power  of  prayer.  What 
a  benediction  would  come  on  our  Church  at  home  did  we,  like 
these  native  Christian  girls,  learn  something  more  of  the  real 
meaning,  the  blessedness  of  prayer. 

Naturally,  we  turn  our  footsteps  nc^t  to  the  second  station 
organized.  Gujranzvala. 

We  want  to  see  the  Porters  and  Miss  Rosa  McCullough.  We 
will  ask  them  to  take  us  through  the  l>oys'  Industrial  School, 
through  the  weaving  shop,  the  tailor  shop,  the  carpenter  shop,  the 
blacksmith  shop  and  out  over  the  farm. 

Our  missionaries  aim  to  teach  the  boys  and  girls  of  India  not 
only  to  read  the  Bil)lc  and  to  pray,  but  also  to  follow  a  useful, 
industrious  life. 

Xext  we  will  1)C  eager  to  see  Pasnir  and  the  Girls'  Industrial 
School,  where  new  buildings  have  recently  been  added  on  the  cot- 
tage i)lan.  and  where  our  missionaries  arc  doing  a  work  so  much 
like  that  of  the  Saviour  when  He  took  the  little  ones  up  into  His 
arms  and  blessed  them. 


FIFTY  YFARS  OF  MISSION  WORK  IN  INDIA.  215 

Tnrlia's  famine  of  1900  and  1901  swept  away  8.000,000,  a  num- 
ber equal  to  the  population  of  the  Canadas.  The  gathering  of 
little  sufferers  into  the  home,  the  deathbed  scenes  of  faith  and 
patience.,  have  made  the  home  in  Pasrur  a  gate  through  which  the 
light  of  Heaven  has  broken  upon  scenes  of  darkest  sorrow. 

Come  with  me  now  to  Pathankof,  if  only  to  shake  hands  with 
^diat  veteran,  Dr.  J.  S.  Barr,  and  with  his  wife,  who,  since  1861,  for 
fortv-three  years,  through  faithful,  loving  lives,  have  been  throw^- 
ing  the  beauty  and  the  light  of  Christ  ui)on  the  Punjab. 

\yho  would  not  want  to  stop  at  Gurdaspur  and  Zafanval,  and 
go  with  Anderson  and  Gordon  and  their  co-w^orkers  on  their 
evangelistic  tours,  as  they  travel  from  village  to  village,  preaching 
Christ  and  visiting  the  schools. 

Of  course  we  will  stop  at  Khaiigah  Dograii.  The  Hollidays  are 
here.  We  want  to  see  "Caleb"  and  "Joshua,"  the  lads  hungry  for 
the  Bible,  praying  in  public  with  unction  and  receiving  their 
names  because  so  eager  to  help  their  pastor  in  his  missionary 
labors.     I  would  rather  see  them  than  the  Governor  General. 

^^'e  have  not  time  to  stop  at  Lyallpur  to  greet  the  jMcKelveys, 
who  are  in  charge,  and  Miss  I>illian  McConnell,  so  recently  from 
(!ur  midst  in  Pittsburg. 

At  BJicra  we  will  see  a  work  unsurpassed  in  faithfulness,  done 
by  the  Martins  and  !Miss  ^IcCahon.  We  will  tarry  longer  in 
Rawa!  Pindi,  for  here  is  Gordon  College.  Here,  too,  is  a  Boys' 
High  School  and  a  Girls'  High  School.  Here  is  a  strong  force  of 
mission  workers,  some  of  whom  have  recently  been  in  America, 
and  their  earnest  words  still  linger  with  us. 

We  will  close  our  journey  in  Jhehini.  Here  we  find  Dr.  Robert 
Stewart,  the  author  of  one  of  the  greatest  works  on  India.  I  will 
go  to  the  Seminary  and  hear  my  life-long  friend,  Thomas  Cum- 
mings.  teach  theology. 

You.  evidently  weary  with  our  long  journey,  can  go  to  the  Good 
Samaritan  Hospital,  in  connection  with  which  almost  twenty-five 
thousand  cases  were  treated  last  year. 

\\'e  cannot  forget  that  we  are  now  in  the  field  where  that  gifted 
handmaid  of  the  Lord,  Dr.  Sophia  Johnson,  lived  and  worked,  and 
where,  though  dead,  her  influence  reigns. 

In  conclusion,  I  ask  you  to  remember  three  things : 

First:  We  are  only  beginning,  just  opening  up  the  work  in  the 
Punjab. 

In  Sialkot  alone,  our  original  district,  there  are  three  hundred 
;ni(l  fifty  souls.     There  are  a  thousand  villages.     Of  these  onlv 


216  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEH)    CONVENTION. 

two  hundred  and  fifty  could  be  touched  in  one  year,  by  even  one 
visit,  with  our  present  force.  There  are  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
villages  left  without  help.    We  are  just  beginning. 

Second:  What  we  do  we  should  do  quickly.  The  King's  busi- 
ness requireth  haste.  Within  a  year — O,  bring  it  close  to  your 
own  souls — more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  immortal 
beings  in  the  Punjab  wall  leave  this  world  forever,  will  go  out 
from  our  own  mission  field  without  knowing  Jesus  Christ,  Whom 
to  know  is  life  eternal. 

Third:  Let  us  remember  to  do  the  work  in  India  for  Him, 
only  for  Him,  all  for  Him.  We  read  in  the  Bible  that  the  domin- 
ion of  the  great  Ahasuerus,  like  an  archway,  reached  over  127 
provinces  from  India  to  Ethiopia.  That  regal  structure  lies  buried 
in  the  dust  of  twenty-five  hundred  years. 

Our  coming  King  is  commanding  us  to-day  to  prepare  for  Him 
an  arch  of  triumph,  awaiting  His  certain  victories  on  this  earth. 
One  side  of  this  arch  we  are  laying  deep  and  strong  by  the  riv^r 
of  Egypt.  The  other  side  of  the  arch  we  are  rearing  in  India. 
What  lives  of  faith,  self-denial  and  devotion  we  have  been  build- 
ing into  its  foundations !  Let  us  not  fail  amid  the  enthusiasm  of 
our  work  and  the  excitement  of  a  great  convention  like  this  to  put 
into  the  arch  the  keystone,  the  keystone  which  means  so  much  to 
Him — the  secret,  silent,  abiding  love  of  the  heart  for  the  Master. 
Then,  only  then,  will  the  work  endure  when  the  scenes  of  earth 
have  fled  and  gone. 


THURSDAY  AFTERNOON. 

Foreign  Missions  and  the  Pastor:     Rev.  D.  F.  McOil!,  D.D. 

Conference. 

Foreign  Missions  and  the  Women's  Missionary  Society:     Mrs. 
Annie  R.  Herron. 

Conference. 

Foreign   Missions   in  the  Sabbath  School  and  Young   People's 
Society:    Mr.  C.  V.  Vickrey. 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS  AND  THE  PASTOR. 

THE    REV.    L).    F.    m'gILL,    D.D. 

My  friends,  I  think  I  shall  begin  without  any  introduction,  and 
continue  without  taking  any  time  or  making  any  effort  to  be 
eloquent,  or  graceful,  or  forcible,  or  anything  of  that  kind,  and  I 
suspect  I  shall  have  to  be  stopped  without  any  peroration,  all  for 
the  sake  of  being  practical,  and  of  making  the  very  most  out  of 
the  thirty  minutes  which  really  have  gotten  down  to  about  twenty 
minutes  already. 

I  am  to  speak  to  the  pastors  largely,  and  about  the  pastor's  place 
and  work,  and  while  I  did  not  choose  my  subject,  nevertheless  I 
am  glad  that  I  have  it,  because  the  pastor  is  the  important  man  in 
this  matter. 

I  used  to  have  the  honor  of  belonging  to  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Means.  I  remember  receiving  a  letter  from  a  brother  pastor 
one  tim^  which  said  something  like  this :  "You  men  always  amuse 
me ;  you  people  on  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee.  You  get 
together  after  your  appointment  by  the  General  Assembly,  and 
you  solemnly  resolve  that  it  is  up  to  the  pastor  to  do  this  whole 
thing,  and  then  you  so  publish  in  the  church  papers."  Well, 
now.  I  am  not  a  member  of  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  but 
I  want  to  defend  tliem  at  that  point  to-day  and  to  declare  that  no 
man  can  be  a  member  of  that  Committee  for  any  length  of  time, 
or  can  look  into  this  whole  situation  without  having  the  conviction 
tliat  it  is  "up  to"  the  pastor,  from  first  to  last  and  all  over  the 
Church,  if  we  would  rise  to  our  opportunity  in  this  matter  of 
providing  for  the  foreign  work.  It  is  the  pastor  who,  in  many 
and  many  a  case  under  our  observation,  has  revolutionized  the 
congregation.  I  have  seen  pastors  whose  course  through  the 
Church  I  could  track  from  place  to  place.  I  have  seen  pastors  go 
from  one  congregation  to  another  that  had  never  been  a  quota 
paying  congregation,  I  have  seen  those  congregations  come  into 
the  list  of  those  who  paid  their  share  of  that  average  that  is  asked 
and  expected  of  the  Church.  I  have  seen  a  pastor  do  that,  nol 
once,  but  twice,  three  times,  four  times,  five  times,  and  even  six, 

219 


220  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBIIvEE    CONVENTION, 

and  never  fail.  And  my  heart  does  go  out  to  such  a  pastor  as  that, 
and  I  fervently  exclaim,  "God  bless  him ;  he  has  a  conscience ; 
he  feels  responsibility  ;  he  tries  to  be  faithful ;  he  is  faithful ;  and 
he  blesses  his  own  congregation  while  he  uses  it  for  the  purposes 
of  blessing  the  whole  Church." 

The  missionary  interest  in  a  congregation  will  not  rise  above  the 
level  of  the  missionary  intelligence  and  zeal  of  the  pastor.  The 
pastor  may  have  trouble  bringing  a  congregation  up  to  his  own 
standard  in  this  matter,  but  no  pastor  will  ever  have  any  trouble 
in  keeping  a  congregation  down  to  his  standard.  It  will  stay 
there  every  time.  The  pastor,  therefore,  ought  to  be  a  man  of 
vigor ;  he  ought  to  be  a  man  of  large  conception ;  he  ought  to  be 
a  man  of  purpose  and  of  power  to  inspire  the  members  of  his 
congregation. 

Let  me  say  in  the  beginning  that  the  pastor  ought  to  think  of 
his  own  congregation,  not  as  being  a  field,  but  rather  a  force.  A 
pastor  talks  about  his  field,  "my  field — a  limited  field."  Why,  bless 
you,  no !  it'  is  not  limited !  This  little  place  over  which  you  pre- 
side, these  few  hundred  members,  or  scores  of  members,  they  are 
not  your  field.  The  field  is  out  yonder.  This  is  the  force.  Your 
field  is  broad,  far,  far  broader  than  the  limits  of  the  congregation 
over  which  you  preside.  Jesus  points  out  yonder  to  the  fields 
white  to  the  harvest.  He  says:  "The  field  is  the  world."  Now. 
let  the  pastor  quit  talking  about  his  own  field,  if  by  that  he  means 
his  own  congregation.  It  is  a  force  to  be  organized  and  developed 
and  used  and  quickened  for  the  sake  of  the  field  that  is  ripe  to  the 
harvest.  Think  of  your  field  as  including  every  mission  field 
abroad  as  well  as  at  home.  Our  fields  include  India,  Egypt  and 
the  Sudan,  and  all  the  rest. 

What  is  the  pastor's  relation  to  the  great  commission?  Is  he 
to  think  of  it  in  this  way:  "Yonder  are  the  missionaries.  They  are 
missionaries.  I  am  not.  Jesus  gave  his  commission  to  people 
like  that.  'Go  out  and  evangelize.'  I  am  free  from  that.  It  is  a 
question  of  going  out  there,  or  working  here."  No.  no ;  it  is 
never  that.  It  is  our  work,  for  every  one  of  us;  and,  if  we  stay 
here,  nevertheless  the  responsibility  lies  upon  our  shoulders  for  the 
work  there  just  the  same.  We  have  a  relationship  to  that  commis- 
sion given  by  the  Master.  We  are  not  excused  from  going;  we 
arc  to  go;  and  if  we  do  not  go  in  the  one  sense,  we  are  to  go  in 
the  other  sense — supporting  those  who  are  there,  and  so  sending 
out  constantly  our  influence,  our  prayers  and  our  money. 


the;  pastor.  221 

A  pastor  must  have  an  energy  of  power  to  overcome  the  preju- 
dice of  his  congretjation.  He  must  develop  the  power  to  awaken 
the  attention  of  apathetic  minds.  It  is  his  place  to  direct  the 
activities  of  his  congrej^ation  in  this  direction ;  his  place  and  privi- 
lege to  enthuse  a  congregation  until  it  will  love  to  be  interested  in 
every  part  of  foreign  missionary  work,  and  will  feel  the  blessing 
coming  down  upon  it  at  home ;  and  it  is  the  place  of  the  pastor, 
more  than  any  other  living  man,  to  educate  the  Church's  intelli- 
gence in  this  matter.  If  Dr.  McClurkin  were  speaking,  I  think  he 
would  i)ut  it  this  way :  "The  pastor  is  to  be,  first  a  lens,  and  then 
a  ],r!sm."  That  is  the  way  he  put  it  in  this  place  not  long  ago 
when  he  was  talking  about  Sabbath  School  teachers  and  foreign 
missions.  If  Dr.  Pierson  were  speaking,  I  think  he  would  say 
that  the  pastor  is  to  be  on  all  occasions  a  missionary  bulletin,  for  I 
am  pretty  sure  he  did  say  something  like  that  once  upon  a  time. 
If  Jesus  Christ  were  speaking  to  us,  face  to  face,  I  think  He  would 
tell  us  these  same  things,  and,  remembering  that  He  said,  "Follow 
Me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men,"  I  believe  He  would  say 
to  every  one  of  us  pastors,  "Follow  Me,  keep  close  to  Me,  keep 
step  with  Me,  and  I  will  teach  you  to  enlarge  your  horizon  until  it 
takes  in  all  the  foreign  fields ;  to  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  your 
parish,  until  they  are  world  wide,  and  your  influence  shall  be  felt 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  world,  and  your  heart 
will  be  a  flame  of  fire,  spreading  its  blessed  contagion,  imparting 
its  Heaven-born  love  to  all  the  hearts  around  about  you,  with 
which  you  come  in  contact." 

The  pastor,  if  he  would  be  this  to  his  congregation,  must  be  at 
all  times,  thoroughly  informed.  And  there  is  so  nmch  informa- 
tion that  is  of  interest,  that  takes  hold  upon  the  imagination  and 
upon  the  heart,  that  is  worth  repeating,  that  once  we  get  it  into 
our  heart  and  mind  we  want  to  give  it  to  others  just  for  the  joy  of 
it.  These  figures,  for  example,  that  have  been  given  us  in  this 
convention.  The  fact  that  in  the  first  ten  years  of  our  missionary 
effort  the  number  of  converts  was  114;  that  the  net  increase  in 
the  next  ten  years  was  715;  that  in  the  next  ten  years  it  was 
3190:  and  that  in  the  next  ten  years  it  was  7567;  and 
that  they  number  now  16,434.  Did  you  know  that,  pastors, 
before  you  came  to  this  convention  ?"  Well,  you  might  have 
known  it.  You  might  have  had  those  figures,  and  hundreds 
of  other  figures  just  as  interesting.  We  have  to  dig  for 
these    things ;     we    have    to    search    for    them    and    get    them 


222  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY   JUBILIJE    CONVENTION. 

out  from  here  and  there.  But  once  we  get  them,  how 
eloquent  they  become,  and  we  can  make  them  eloquent  to  others 
as  weh  as  to  ourselves. 

Where  shall  we  get  the  information  ?  People  are  always  ask- 
ing that  question.  Where  shall  we  go  for  information?  Well, 
let  me  answer  in  a  general  way.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  man 
narried  Charles  R.  Watson?  That  is  what  he  is  for.  His  place 
is  in  the  Witherspoon  Building,  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  And 
that  is  one  thing  that  he  lives  for — to  supply  the  Church,  through 
pastors  and  others  who  are  interested  in  these  things,  with  infor- 
mation. Would  you  like,  for  example,  to  have  wall  maps? 
Then  send  to  him  and  get  them.  Get  them  for  a  trifle — a  dollar 
and  a  quarter.  Did  you  ever  read  up  thoroughly  on  India  mis- 
sions? Would  you  like  to  have  an  account  of  Life  and  Work 
in  India?  Send  to  him  and  get  it  for  a  trifle — seventy-five  cents. 
Have  you  read  that  history  of  our  missionary  enterprise  in 
Egypt,  written  by  Dr.  Andrew  Watson  ?  Send  to  him  and  get 
it.  Send  to  him  for  anything  you  want,  anything  you  ought  to 
have.  Mission  studies,  a'  splendid  thing  that  everybody  ought  to 
have,  with  its  outlines  for  mission  study.  Send  to  him  and  get 
it — tlirce  cents ;  less  than  that  if  you  get  a  dozen  or  a  score  of 
copies.  Send  to  him  for  missionary  libraries.  You  have  won- 
dered where  you  could  get  them  and  nobody  was  there  to  ask. 
Send  to  him  and  ask  him  questions,  if  nothing  else.  Use  your 
Foreign  Board  and  your  foreign  Secretary.  The  more  letters  of 
inquiry  they  get,  the  more  orders  they  get  for  any  of  these  things 
that  they  have,  or  that  they  don't  have,  the  better  they  will  be 
pleased.  As  one  result  of  this  convention  there  ought  to  go  a 
deluge  of  letters  down  there  ordering  supplies  and  all  of  these 
necessary  things. 

Information!  Why,  we  can  all  get  it  and  get  it  easily,  if  we' 
desire  that.  Send  ten  dollars  for  one  of  the  missionary  cam- 
paign libraries.  If  you  do  not  know  just  what  you  had  liettcr 
get.  ask  that  same  man.  our  splendid  foreign  Secretary,  and  he 
will  give  you  his  advice.  Or,  if  you  want  literature  that  is  free, 
then  send  for  it  and  get  it.  The  Annual  Report  of  the  Hoard,  with 
maps  and  illustrations ;  the  foreign  missionary  pyramids  and  let- 
ters;  a  i)rograni,  "Send  the  Light,"  if  you  haven't  seen  that,  send 
for  it  and  get  it,  and  use  it ;  minutes  of  the  General  Assembly ; 
the  Clnu-ch  papers.  Attend  all  conventions  of  this  kind  that  you 
possibly  can.  and  give  yourself  a  cliaiice  to  get  information  sn  that 


Till';    PASTOR.  22'S 

you  may  be  what  you  otii^ht  to  be  to  your  congregation. 

Then  there  conies  the  matter  of  the  selection  and  suggestion  of 
hterature  to  memlKTS  of  our  congregations.  You  recommend  a 
book  to  somebody.  You  recommend  it  for  a  reason  ;  \ou  tell  him 
of  something  most  interesting  and  valua1>1t'  that  he  can  secure,  and 
on  your  recomm.endntion  he  reads  tlie  I;o()k,  and  you  encourage 
this  personal  investigation  along  the  line  of  miss'onary  enterprise 
on  the  part  of  your  people,  and  it  is  just  as  easy  to  encourage  that 
kind  of  investigation  as  to  encourage  any  other  kind.  Preach 
missionary  sermons,  and  none  of  you  preach  them  too  often. 

Dr.  Pierson  has  said,  in  one  of  his  books  or  lectures  or  ad- 
dresses, that  one  of  the  men  whom  he  has  always  regarded  as  an 
ideal  pastor,  because  of  his  influence  over  the  congregation  and  the 
interest  he  took  in  missions — that  the  secret  of  his  power  was 
largely  this :  he  got  hold  of  a  missionary  book,  and  he  read 
it,  and  then  he  gave  that  book  in  a  sermon  to  his  con- 
gregation. He  took  the -book  and  read  it  through  and  was 
full  of  it ;  and  then  he  condensed  it  and  worked  it  over 
and  selected  the  information  that  was  most  inspiring,  and 
impressive,  and  he  gave  the  elTect  of  the  whole  book  to  his  con- 
gregation ;  and  he  did  this,  from  time  to  time,  keeping  the  inter- 
est in  that  congregation  at  the  high-water  mark  all  the  time. 

Church  papers  and  missionary  intelligence,  and  all  that.  I 
wonder  if  the  most  of  us  have  not  said  at  some  time  or  other  that 
these  things  are  not  as  interesting  as  they  ought  to  be.  Now,  let 
me  tell  you  something.  Whenever  we  say  that,  we  give  ourselves 
away.  Those  things  would  be  interesting  to  us  if  we  knew  as 
much  about  them  as  we  ought  to.  The  fact  is  that  we  have  to 
have  a  certain  amount  of  information  ourselves  before  we  can 
take  up  any  further  information.  Let  me  illustrate.  One  of 
you  delegates  from  Kansas  comes  to  me  this  afternoon,  and  you 
ask  me  if  I  can  direct  you  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 
office  down-town.  I  say:  "Yes,  I  can  direct  vou  there.  Now, 
you  know  where  Wood  street  is?"  P.ut  you  shake  your  head  and 
say  you  don't  know  where  it  is.  "Well,  then,"  I  say,  "you  know 
where  Fifth  avenue  is?"  You  say,  no,  you  don't  know  where 
Fifth  avenue  is.  "Well,  do  you  know  where  the  Farmers'  Bank 
building  is?"  You  say,  no.  ycni  don't  know  where  the  Farmers' 
Bank  building  is.  "Well,  then,"  I  say  to  you.  "hozv  can  I  tell  you 
anything  when  you  don't  knoiu  anything?"  And  that  is  just  the 
situation.      How  can  the  Foreign  Board  through  statements  in  the 


224  FOREIGN    MISSIOXAKY    JUBILEK    CONVENTION. 

papers  this  week  and  the  next  week,  this  month  and  the  next 
month  and  next  year,  interest  us  if  we  don't  know  anything? 

The  use  of  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly?  Why,  how  can  a 
man  get  anything  interesting  out  of  that?  Well,  now,  brother 
pastor,  did  you  know  that  the  congregation  of  Tanta,  in  the  Pres- 
bytery of  the  Delta,  of  which  a  man  by  the  name  of  Mikhiel 
Salama  is  pastor — that  the  members  of  that  congregation  gave 
nine  dollars  and  ten  cents  on  an  average  for  every  member  last 
year  ?  Did  you  know  that?  Did  you  know  that  the  congregation 
of  Assiut,  in  the  Presbytery  of  Assiut,  of  which  Maowid  Hanna 
is  pastor,  with  a  membership  of  two  hundred  and  ninety-six — that 
last  year,  every  one  of  these  two  hundred  and  ninety-six  members 
gave,  on  an  average,  ten  dollars  and  twenty-two  cents?  Did  you 
know  that  this  church  in  Egypt  had  a  Sabbath  School  that  num- 
bers three  hundred  and  eighty-one?  Did  you  know  that  the 
church  of  Azziah  has  two  hundred  and  seventeen  in  its  Sabbath 
School?"  Did  you  know  the  church  of  Motiah  had  two  hundred 
and  thirty?  Did  you  know  that  the  church  of  Keneh,  in 
the  Presbytery  of  Thebes,  of  which  Ishak  Ibrahim  was 
pastor,  gave,  last  year,  on  an  average,  seventeen  dollars  and 
seventy-four  cents  for  every  member  in  that  congregation?  Did 
you  know  that?  Did  you  know  that  seven  hundred  of  our  con- 
gregations right  here  in  America  did  not  give  so  much  as  that? 
These  arc  interesting  things.  You  can  pick  them  out  of  the 
Minutes  of  the  Assembly,  and  a  hundred  other  interesting  things. 
They  arc  not  right  there  on  the  surface,  but  they  are  there,  evert 
year,  if  }ou  look  for  them,  if  you  bring  them  out,  and  then  give 
them  to  your  people. 

There  is  the  influence  of  the  pastor  in  the  home.  Is  it  known 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  your  congregation  as  you 
go  along  the  street  and  along  the  public  road, — do  the  people 
think  of  you  as  a  man  whose  heart  is  in  foreign  missions?  I 
knew  a  ])astor  once  upon  a  time  who  did  love  a  fine  horse.  I 
don't  know  that  anybody  blamed  him  for  it,  but  he  just  admired 
a  beautiful  horse.  Now,  everybody  in  his  congregation  knew 
that.  I  don't 'know  just  how  they  found  it  out.  but  they  all  knew 
it.  it  would  be  worth  something  to  have  every  member  of  our 
congregation  know  that  our  pulses  beat  a  little  quicker  when  we 
think  about  the  work  that  (lod  has  given  to  our  Church  to  do  for 
Christ. 

The  whole  ccniduct  of  the  affairs  of  the  congregation?      How 


the;  pastor.  225 

is  it  in  your  church?  Do  you  have  those  maps  and  charts,  edu- 
cating- through  the  eye?  I  saw  somewhere  that  82  per  cent,  of 
all  the  information  that  comes  to  us  comes  through  our  eyes.  If 
that  be  true,  then  it  is  worth  while  to  use  these  maps  and  charts 
and  things  that  are  speaking  silently,  just  like  these  banners 
about  here  in  this  room,  exerting  their  influence.  They  catch  the 
eye,  and  we  carry  the  truth  away  with  us.  Remember,  we  can 
have  an  influence  like  this  about  our  Church  all  the  while.  When 
I  was  in  the  seminary  they  used  to  talk  about  a  pastor,  or  about 
a  preacher  rather,  that  he  wore  homiletic  spectacles,  so  that  when 
he  read  a  daily  paper  he  picked  up  illustrations  and  material  for 
his  sermons.  He  always  had  those  spectacles  on,  was  always 
looking  for  things  of  that  kind.  And,  consequently,  they  were 
coming  to  him  from  every  conceivable  source,  every  hour  in  the 
day.  Well,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  wearing  foreign  missionary 
spectacles  and  seeing  things  through  those  glasses  that  will  be 
helpful  to  ourselves  and  inspiring  to  others.  There  is  such  a 
thing'  as  gathering — this  is  a  suggestion  I  saw  somewhere— 
lantern  views  of-  missions  and  missionaries,  and  of  the  homes  in 
which  they  live  and  of  the  schools  in  which  they  teach,  and  of 
the  churches  in  which  they  preach,  and  of  some  of  the  converts  to 
Christianity  that  stand  to  their  eternal  credit,  that  we  might  use 
them  on  occasions.  And  it  is  a  suggestion  that  is  well  worth  re- 
membering. 

Let  the  pastor  teach  his  people  to  pray  for  missions.  It  is  not 
enough  to  simply  put  in  that  formal  petition  that  God's  blessing 
may  rest  upon  all  missionaries  of  the  cross  in  foreign  lands,  or 
something  like  that.  It  ought  to  have  more  definiteness.  It  ought 
to  have  more  grip  about  it  than  that.  Let  it  be  something  more  spe- 
cific. Let  it  be  a  reference  to  individuals,  or  to  a  particular  man  or 
to  a  special  need,  or  to  a  special  locality,  over  there,  or  especially  to 
the  educational  work,  or  something  of  that  kind.  But  let  it  be  so 
specific  and  so  individual  in  its  character  that  the  people  will  love  to 
join  us  in  our  supplication  for  foreign  missions.  In  the  Sabbath 
School  there  are  a  score  of  things  that  might  be  done  in  the  way 
of  education  along  this  line.  Why  not  conduct  a  round  table  on 
the  subject  of  missions  now  and  then,  right  in  your  own  Sabbath 
School?  Appoint  this  one  and  that  one  and  the  other  one  to 
make  a  study  of  a  certain  subject,  and  then  come  together  and  let 
all  these  things  be  discussed  in  a  round  table.  Let  one  feature 
after  another  of  the  work  be  taken  up  and  accurately  described, 
so  that  all  shall  have  the  benefit  of  the  investigation  that  is  being 


226  FORE^IGN    MISSIONARY    JUBIIvRE    CONVENTION. 

made  by  each  particular  one.  Why  shouUhi't  there  be  a  supple- 
mental course  in  some  of  the  classes,  in  addition  to  the  regular 
work  of  the  school?  Why  shouldn't  they  take  up,  under  the 
direction  of  their  teacher,  the  study  of  the  missionary  work  in 
Eg;ypt,  in  India,  and  in  the  Sudan,  or  in  all  three  places?  Why 
shouldn't  there  be  outlined  for  them  a  certain  course  of  study,  not 
too  extensive,  and  yet  that  would  make  them,  every  one,  intelli- 
gent and  earnest  in  their  giving.  Why  shouldn't  there  be  mis- 
sionary classes?  I  heard  somewhere, — you  all  know  what  the  red 
and  blue  contest  is, — of  an  Egyptian  and  Indian  contest.  It  was 
a  matter  of  securing  the  largest  amount  of  money  for  the  one 
mission  or  the  other.  The  scholars  were  divided,  one  half  of 
them  were  Egyptians  and  the  other  half  Indians.  They  were 
all  raising  money  for  foreign  missions.  It  was  a  delightful  con- 
test on  the  line  of  the  red  and  the  blue,  or  the  blue  and  the  white, 
or  whatever  you  may  use. 

There  comes  to  me,  just  at  this  moment,  the  memory  of  an 
efifort  that  was  made  by  the  gentleman  who  is  presiding  over  our 
session  this  afternoon.  He  was  superintendent  of  a  Sabbath 
school,  and  they  were  raising  as  large  an  amount  of  money  as 
they  could  for,  I  think  it  was,  our  Egyptian  mission.  Every 
Sabbath  morning  he  got  up  there  and  said:  "Now,  we  have  to 
raise  so  much  within  a  certain  time;  we  have  just  so  many  Sab- 
baths left ;  we  have  with  our  offering  this  morning,  so  much ; 
that  leaves  so  much  ;  and  there  are  so  many  Sabbaths  ;  and,  divid- 
ing the  amount  by  the  number  of  Sabbaths,  it  leaves  so  much  for 
us  to  raise  each  Sabbath."  And  there  was  the  whole  prograiti. 
The  next  Sabbath  morning  he  got  up  and,  in  about  one  moment, 
(lid  the  same  thing  again.  "The  oft'erfng  this  morning  is  so 
nuich  ;  that  means  that  so  much  of  this  amount  is  raised ;  that 
means  so  much  is  left;  there  are  only  five  Sabbaths  left;'  that  is 
so  much  for  each  Sabbath."  They  were  interested,  and  every  one 
listened  U>  find  where  they  were  in  this  effort.  He  kept  them 
posted,  and  that  is  all  that  was  necessary.     They  did  the  rest. 

Rlacklioard  exhibits  in  the  Sabbath  school.  Get  somebody 
who  has  some  skill  to  make  the  most  of  his  skill.  These  figures 
that  were  narrated  a  while  ago,  for  example,  if  put  upon  the 
blackboard,  would  interest  everybody,  and  they  would  go  and  talk 
about  them.  Interesting  statements,  encouraging  statements,  put 
in  the  least  number  of  words,  in  the  briefest  possible  form — place 
them  there,  and  let  these  items  of  information  get  into  the  minds 


Tlllv    PASTOR.  227 

and  hearts  of  the  school,  or  of  the  congregation. 

Then,  there  is.  in  addition  to  this,  a  magnificent  work  that  many 
a  pastor  has  done,  where,  in  his  intercourse  in  the  home  and  with 
members  of  the  Sabbath  school  and  congregation,  he  has  put 
it  into  the  heart  of  this  young  man  and  that  young  woman,  this 
young  boy  and  that  young  girl,  that  in  years  to  come,  if  God 
would  open  the  way  and  bless  them,  they  would  go  to  the  foreign 
field.  A  missionary  may  be  found  in  your  own  congregation 
Maybe  he  is  only  a  boy  now.  Get  before  him  an  idea  of  conse- 
crating his  life  to  some  such  work  as  this. 

There  are  a  great  many  things  that  every  pastor  can  do  whose 
heart  is  in  this  work.  Let  there  be  a  prayer  meeting  study,  set 
aside  a  certain  evening,  and  now  and  then  direct  the  attention  of 
your  people  to  foreign  missions,  and  let  them  all  pray  for  that 
one  specially.  Get  them  to  investigate  here  and  there  and  to 
bring  together  an  interesting  exhibit  of  the  condition  of  the 
work  and  of  its  progress,  and  then  let  there  be  specific  prayer  for 
that  mission,  that  station,  your  own  college,  your  own  mission- 
aries, this  one  from  your  own  ]tresbytery,  and  possibly  from  your 
own  congregation.  Thus  there,  will  be  born  in  the  hearts  of  the 
young  people  an  ambition  to  go  into  this  work  themselves  and  to 
be  wi-apped  up  in  it.  Send  one  of  your  number  to  the  foreign 
field.     This  is  a  magnificent  idea. 

Assume  the  support  of  a  foreign  missionary.  Or,  if  not  that, 
support  a  student  in  his  work ;  and,  if  not  that,  at  least  make 
yourselves  familiar  in  some  way  with  the  personality  of  one  or 
more  of  the  workers  and  pray  for  them  and  talk  about  them  and 
remember  them ;  and  when  the  missionary  from  the  foreign  field 
comes  back  to  the  home  land,  make  much  of  that  missionary. 
Give  to  him,  or  to  her,  a  greeting  that  shall  be  from  the  heart, 
and  just  use  them  to  the  very  utmost.  They  are  willing  to  be  used 
for  the  purpose.  Interest  your  people  in  the  work  by  organizing 
a  society  among  the  men  of  your  congregation,  and  there  is  a  way 
of  doing  it  so  that  everybody  shall  be  interested  in  the  work. 
Insure  a  missionary  church  for  the  future  by  interesting  the  young 
people. 

A  church  cannot  stay  dead  with  a  li\  e  pastor.  There  is  always 
a  contagion  about  fire.  Get  your  own  hearts  on  fire,  and  the 
people  will  soon  find  it  out. 


CONFERENCE 

FoLLowixG  Dr.   ]McGill's  Address. 

In  opening  this  Conference,  the  chairman,  Mr.  John  H.  Mur- 
dock,  said:  We  have  had,  this  morning  and  at  preceding  ses- 
sions, most  interesting  addresses,  devoted,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  to  the  history  of  our  missions.  History  is  useful,  not 
not  because  it  is  interesting,  but  because  it  is  an  incentive  to 
action  and  teaches  us  something  of  the  present  and  the  future. 

We  have  just  now  listened  to  a  most  practical  address  looking 
forward  to  missionary  work.  Let  us  keep  up,  this  afternoon,  the 
interest  which  our  friend,  Dr.  McGill,  has  excited  in  our  minds 
along  this  line,  and  let  it  be  followed  now  in  the  Conference, 
which  is  next  in  order  for  this  afternoon. 

This  Conference  is  to  occupy,  according  to  the  program, 
fifteen  minutes,  and  it  is  my  duty  to  confine  it  to  that  limit  as 
closely  as  I  can.  Fifteen  minutes,  one  minute  allowed  to  each 
speaker.  I  venture  to  say  there  are  at  least  one  hundred  people 
before  me,  who  are,  every  one,  anxious  to  answer  the  questions 
here  upon  the  program.  If  not,  there  ought  to  be  that  many  and 
more.  How  shall  they  all  be  heard  in  these  fifteen  minutes? 
That  simply  cannot  be  done.  But,  in  order  that  as  many  as 
possible  may  be  heard,  will  you  not  get  ready  now,  be  up 
promptly,  as  soon  as  the  opportunity  is  given ;  occupy  your 
one  minute,  and  sit  down.  So  many  conferences  fail  because  we 
are  not  ready,  or  because  wc  wait  for  somebody  else.  Wait  for 
nobody.  Be  ready.  Say  what  is  in  your  mind,  and  say  it  as 
emphatically,  as  promptly,  as  distinctly,  as  possible.  Now,  as 
one  minute  is  to  be  allowed  to  each  speaker,  and  only  one  minute, 
each  speaker  is  to  speak  on  only  one  question. 

Do  not  repeat  the  question,*  simply  give  the  number  of  it. 
When  you  rise,  announce  your  name  and  your  city  or  town.f  and 

"■The  questions  are  printed  liere  in  full  for  the  convenience  of  readers  of 
this  report. 

fit  was  found  impossible,  in  the  majority  of  instances,  to  identify  the 
speakers  who  took  part  in  the  conferences  of  Thursday  afternoon ;  for  this 
reason  their  names  are  uniformly  omitted. 

228 


THE  PASTOR.  229' 

then  proceed  at  once  to  answer  the  question.  And  it  will  he  my 
place  to  see  that  you  answer  that  question  within  a  minute,  or  do 
not  succeed  in  answering  it. 

The  conference  will  now  begin.     Who  will  be  the  first? 

Question:  How  can  the  pastor  best  awaken  the  attention  of 
apathetic  minds? 

Answer :  It  is  presumption  on  my  part  to  undertake  to  answer 
that  question.  But  this  thought  occurred  to  me  last  night  when 
Mr.  White  gave  us  his  address.  Last  night,  it  occurred  to  me 
that  if  every  pastor  in  this  great  assembly  will  go  back  to  his 
church  and,  on  next  Sabbath  morning,  or  on  the  following  Sab- 
bath morning,  will  speak  to  his  people  with  the  fire  of  conviction 
in  his  soul,  our  people  will  be  interested  in  foreign  missions.  And 
if,  on  the  following  days  of  the  week,  we  will  take  that  conviction 
with  us  and  bring  our  people  face  to  face  individually  and  per- 
sonally with  it,  they  too  will  be  interested.  And  if  we  talk  to 
them  about  the  things  with  which  they  are  already  acquainted, 
we  will  arouse  them  to  more  thorough  interest. 

Let  me  illustrate.  Dr.  McCague  and  Miss  McCullough  were 
both  brought  up  in  the  country  in  which  I  live,  and  I  am  sure  I 
can  enthuse  our  people  much  more  successfully  by  telling  them 
things"  about  Dr.  McCague  and  Miss  iMcCullough  than  I  can  in 
any  other  possible  way. 

Question:  How  overcome  a  boy's  dread  of  or  a  man's  con- 
tempt for  membership  in  a  missionary  society,  so  far  as  to  induce 
him  to  organize  or  join  one? 

Answer:  Three  things.  First,  show  the  boy,  or  the  man, 
that  it  will  be  good  for  him ;  that  it  is  a  good  thing  to  be  with 
God's  people,  to  be  with  Christian  young  people;  that  if  he  is 
there  he  will  grow,  and  that  it  will  help  him.  Second,  show  him 
that  he  can  help  somebody  else ;  that  if  he  joins  the  society  some 
one  else  may  join  it ;  that  if  he  speaks  and  prays  and  talks  it  will 
encourage  other  people.  And  third,  show  him  that  Christ  wants 
him  to  do  this ;  that  if  he  loves  Christ,  he  surely  can  do  this  much 
for  the  Master  who  has  done  so  much  for  him. 

Question:  What  efficient  methods  of  calling  out  gifts  to 
foreign  missions  may  be  used  by  the  pastor? 

Answer:  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  a  very  definite  answer 
to  give  for  it,  but  it  occurred  to  me  that  it  might  be  a  good  thing 
sometimes  for  the  pastor  to  keep  quiet  if  he  wants  to  awaken  an 
interest  and  get  the  opinions  of  his  people.     Once,  instead  of  mak- 


230  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILKE    CONVENTION. 

ing  a  missionary  address,  I  asked  some  four  or  live  of  the  elders 
in  my  cong-rei^ation  to  make  missionary  speeches,  and  assigned 
tlicm  different  topics  regarding  the  work.  And  each  one  of  them 
made  a  sjilendid  speech,  better  than  I  could  have  done,  and  the 
result  of  it  was  that,  that  day.  we  decided  to  support  our  own 
missionary  in  the  foreign  field. 

The  Chairman:  Each  of  them.  I  have  no  doubt,  was  speaking 
just,  what  he  liad  learned  in  private  from  the  pastor. 

Question:  How  make  prayer  for  missions  and  missionaries 
more  than  a  respectable  formality  ? 

Answer :  To  make  an  interesting  prayer  would  require  you 
to  be  definite  and  specific.  Generalities  are  usually  cold  and 
formal,  and  if  the  pastor,  or  any  other,  makes  a  prayer  for  mis- 
sions in  which  he  can  name  some  place  in  which  the  congregation 
is  interested,  or  some  missionaries  with  whom  they  are  acquainted, 
and  prays  for  them  and  their  w^ork,  it  will  add  intensely  to  their 
interest  in  the  prayer.  The  prayer  will  not  be  a  formality  through 
that  specific  and  concrete  mention  of  persons  and  places  and 
things. 

Question:  How  often  should  the  cause  of  foreign  missions 
be  presented  to  the  congregation  ? 

Answer :  Foreign  missions  can  not  be  presented  too  often, 
because,  no  matter  how  often  they  are  presented,  they  can  not 
be  presented  too  often.  But  they  should  be  presented  oftener  in 
the  Sabbath  school  than  they  are.  The  young  people  should  be 
educated  in  missionary  work.  And  so  far  as  contributions  are 
concerned  in  the  Sabbath  school,  usually  the  smallest  amount  that 
the  child  can  bring  is  brought,  a  i)enny.  While  they  are  cheerful 
givers — and  God  loves  a  cheerf'^^  giver,. and  God  forbid  that  I 
should  say  anything  to  discourage  them — why  not  educate  them 
to  bring  ihe  largest  aniDunt  instead  of  the  smallest  amount.. 

ynestion  :  What  is  the  lowest  standard  of  giving  to  foreign 
missions  that  a  ])astor  should  set  before  his  people? 

Answer:  The  tithe,  and  as  nnich  more  as  is  needed.  Pay  it, 
my  brother. 

Question:  What  i)lace  should  foreign  missions  have  in  the 
congregational  jjvayer  meeting? 

Answer :  This  last  year  we  have  arranged,  I  believe,  the  sec- 
ond Wednesday  of  every  month,  for  foreign  missions.  In  this 
way  we  cover  the  world:  Christ  in  Africa;  Christ  in  China; 
Christ  in  India,  etc.,  etc.,  one  for  each  evening,  and  we  undertake 
to  cover  the  whole  world  in  a  vear. 


Tllp;   PASTOR.  231 

Question :  How  get  the  members  of  a  conore.^ation  to  appro- 
priate the  contents  of  a  missionary  library  ? 

Answer:  Last  winter  we  tried  to  organize  a  reading  circle  for 
the  reading  of  Andrew  Gordon's  missionary  book,  and  it  was  not 
very  successful,  the  congregation  being  scattered.  Rut  I  have 
l)cen  delighted  with  the  thought  presented  by  Dr.  McGill,  of 
mastering  a  book  and  putting  its  substance  before  the  people.  I 
trust  I  shall  be  able  to  do  that,  not  only  with  Andrew  Gordon's 
book,  but  with  other  missionary  books. 

Question  :  What  can  a  pastor  do  to  supply  a  congregation's 
lack  of  system  in  making  foreign  missionary  ofiferings? 

Answer:  By  sending  different  persons  who  have  used  differ- 
ent methods  of  raising  foreign  missionary  money,  to  present  these 
methods  to  those  in  charge  of  the  offerings,  even  though  they  have 
turned  one  after  another  down.  Send  for  others  until  you  get  one 
that  will  do  it. 

Another  answer  to  the  same  question :  I  have  never  found 
any  hetter  way  than  getting  some  missionary  to  speak  to  them. 
They  come  from  the  ground  and  give  the  incidents  that  pertain 
directly  to  the  work  in  a  way  that  we  can  not  do  ourselves.  I 
prepared  an  address  on  educational  work  this  last  month,  and  said 
to  nn"*  wife  that  I  did  not  know  whether  any  one  else  was  going 
to  get  anv  good  out  of  it.  but  I  would  get  a  lot  out  of  it  myself. 
And  if  vou  will  s]iend  the  amount  of  time  and  effort  necessary 
to  get  up  that  kind  of  an  address,  you  will  get  a  lot  of  good  out 
of  it  vourselves,  and  if  you  get  it  yourselves,  other  people  will  get 
it.  too. 

Question :  How  overcome  a  boy's  dread  or  man's  contempt  for 
membership  in  a  missionary  society,  so  far  as  to  induce  him  to 
organize  or  join  one? 

Answer:  In  giving  him  something  to  do  that  will  be  com- 
mensurate with  his  abilities.  I  saw  a  class  of  small  boys,  they 
were  a  missionary  band.  But  they  grew  up  and  came  to  the  place 
where  thev  just  scattered  like  that.  They  were  ashamed  to  be 
called  a  mission  band,  they  got  to  be  too  big.  What  they  needed 
was  that  their  \vork  should  be  changed,  at  that  point,  to  work  for 
a  bigger  boy  or  a  man,  as  the  case  may  be.  Let  him  be  interested 
financially  in  a  missionary  enter])rise  that  shall  appeal  to  him  as 
requiring  about  all  the  ability  that  he  has  to  put  into  it,  and  he 
will  go  into  that  and  enjoy' it.  But  if  it  is  just  a- missionary 
society,  a  name  with  a  little  pious  business,  he  will  not  care  for 
that.  ' 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS  AND  THE  WOMEN'S  GENERAL 
MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. 

MRS.    ANNIE    R.    IIERRON. 

I  do  not  expect  or  deem  it  possible  to  give  any  new  information 
concerning  the  value  of  the  Women's  General  Missionary  Society 
to  the  Foreign  Missions  of  our  Church.  I  may  only  hope  repetition 
may  not  prove  wearisome  but  rather  deepen  impressions  already 
gained  of  its  usefulness. 

The  energy  and  activity  of  the  wonderful  nineteenth  century 
and  of  the  dawning  twentieth  have  developed  new  forces  extending 
and  influencing  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

The  amazing  inventions,  the  scientific  discoveries,  the  great 
agencies  whereby  wealth  is  accumulated  as  if  by  enchantment,  the 
intellectual  growth  and  commercial  enterprise,  have  changed  the 
face  of  the  world.  Barriers  seemingly  impassable  have  been  swept 
away,  crooked  places  made  straight  and  rough  places  plain  and 
nearly  every  people  is  now  accessible  to  the  Gospel. 

The  momentous  events  of  the  recent  years  have  not  been  the 
result  of  mere  chance  or  of  the  whirl  of  circumstances;  but  "He 
who  watching  over  Israel  slumbers  not  nor  sleeps,"  "who  holds 
the  nations  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand,"  is  ever  guiding  and 
shaping  their  destinies. 

Not  the  least  of  Time's  evolutions  has  been  the  removal  of 
many  hindrances  in  the  way  of  the  progress  of  women.  The  op- 
portunities afforded  for  the  higher  education  have  almost  revolu- 
tionized her  position  in  society,  opening  new  fields  of  usefulness 
on  every  side.  The  heathenish  superstition  of  woman's  inferior 
and  subordinate  condition  lingered  long  in  church  and  state.  In- 
deed, 1  am  not  sure  that  the  idea  is  yet  wholly  discarded.  This, 
together  with  the  marked  conservatism  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church,  may  have  bt'eii  among  the  reasons  why  our  women  were 
slow  to  move  and  grasj)  ihe  jmssibilities  within  reach.  Hut  the 
missionary  sjjirit  of  the  age  linall\-  disturbc-d  their  tran(|iiil  repose 
and,  dormant  energies  l)eiMg  roused,  tlie  Women's  Missionary 
Society  was  organized  rdxiut  twenty-one  years  ago. 

Too  long  insensible  to  our  obligations  as  individuals  we  have 
232 


the:  womicn's  missionary  SOCIKTV.  233 

given  little  of  our  time,  of  our  ability,  of  our  wealth,  in  helping  to 
spread  far  and  wide  the  message  of  redeeming  love,  but  a  begin- 
ning has  been  made  which  we  trust  will  remove  the  reproach  of 
our  being  indifferent  to  the  blessings  we  enjoy  in  the  Gospel. 

In  organizing  for  more  effective  service,  it  was  wisely  recom- 
mended, that  the  society  should  take  up  only  such  work  as 
relates  to  women  and  children. 

Here  is  woman's  unquestioned  province.  Teaching  in  Sab- 
bath and  weekly  schools,  by  precept,  example  and  a  thousand  silent 
influences,  she  leaves  an  impress  on  youthful  minds  forever;  she 
recognizes  her  mission  to  relieve  distress  and  poverty  and  comfort 
the  despairing  and  sorrowing.  In  homes  and  hospitals  she  cares 
for  the  sick  and  the  suffering,  tenderly  ministering  to  the  relief  of 
pain  and  anguish.  And  these  are  the  qualities  which  supremely  fit 
her  for  usefulness  in  the  schools,  zenanas  and  hospitals  of  foreign 
countries. 

The  aim  of  our  organization  is  to  cultivate  and  intensify  the 
missionary  spirit  by  deepening  a  sense  of  responsibility  which  has 
hardly  yet  been  realized. 

A  more  intimate  relation  between  the  missionaries  and  the  mis- 
sionary societies  is  one  good  resulting  from  organized  work.  The 
constant  correspondence  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Foreign  Depart- 
ment, and  interested  members  generally,  with  our  missionaries 
brings  the  needs  of  the  work  close  to  us.  The  letters  telling  of  the 
progress  and  difficulties  of  the  work,  of  its  encouragements  and 
disappointments,  stimulate  the  helpers  in  the  home  land  to  become 
more  actively  interested  in  missionary  endeavor.  They  show  the 
inestimable  benefits  derived  from  the  schools  already  estab- 
lished and  report  the  growing  demand  for  more  advanced  educa- 
tion. The  seed  long  planted  is  blossoming  and  in  some  places  is 
ready  for  the  harvest.  The  children  who  are  being  trained  todav 
in  Christian  schools  and  colleges  may  be  expected  to  influence  the 
opinion  of  the  next  generation. 

The  message  of  redeeming  love  which  is  carried  into  secluded 
zenanas,  it  is  hoped  will  leave,  in  darkened  hearts  and  homes,  some 
rays  of  light  and  peace.  In  the  hospital  work  of  our  missions  the 
Women's  Missionary  Society  claims  the  honor  of  being  the 
pioneer,  and  although  the  work  is  not  considered  by  some  strictly 
evangelical  in  character  yet  no  one  now  doubts  its  efficacy  in  prov- 
ing a  stepping  stone  to  the  teachings  of  Christianity.  As  time 
goes  on,  we  trust  the  usefulness  of  medical  work  will  be  more 
extensively  appreciated  and  more  largely  increased,  exemplifying 


234  forEtgn  Missionary  .iubilEE  convention. 

practically  the  Divine  U.ve  manifested  by  the  Master  for  the 
bodies  as  well  as  the  souls  of  the  distressed  and  sitftering  anionfj 
whom  lie  lived  and  labored. 

Another  agent  of  usefulness  is  our  jMissionary  j\Iagazine.  It 
enlightens  ignorance  by  publishing  and  circulating  information 
concerning  the  actual  work  and  the  essential  facts  in  mission 
fields,  bringing  as  it  does 'clearly  before  otir  vision  the  varied  ex- 
periences of  missionary  life.  This  agent,  alone,  would  undoubt- 
edly be  of  great  value,  if  well  supported.  How  can  we  be  intelli- 
gently interested  if  we  have  no  knowledge  of  the  countries  and 
of  the  character  of  the  people  where  our  missionaries  labor. 
.  The  Historical  Sketches  and  leaflets  published  from  time  to  time 
are  also  valuable  agents  in  disseminating  information. 

The  trouble  seems  to  be  that  the  desire  for  missionary  informa- 
tion is  limited,  few  persons  avail  themselves  of  these  silent 
messengers  of  influence. 

I  will  take  advantage  of  the  present  opportunity  to  thank,  in  the 
name  of  the  Women's  Missionary  Society,  the  gentlemen,  mem- 
bers of  the  Associations  of  Egypt  and  India,  for  their  courtesy  and 
kindness  in  various  business  transactions. 

Naturally  this  new  element  of  women's  work  introduced  into 
affairs  hitherto  managed  exclusively  by  men,  was  considered  by 
some,  a  doubtful  experiment  to  be  carefully  watched,  lest  some 
erratic  proceeding  on  our  part  might  wreck  the  missionary  enter- 
prise to  its  foundation.  We  have  been  sensible  of  a  certain  aloof- 
ness and  hesitancy  about  ])rofifering  advice.  Be  assured  we  desire 
under  all  circumstances  to  be  guided  by  the  wisdom  of  those 
whose  long  exi)erience  qualifies  them  for  judging  what  is  prudent 
and  judicious.  There  should  be  no  divided  interest  in  missionarv 
enterprise.  In  place  of  being  merely  tolerated  may  we  not  ask  to 
be  received  with  the  welcome  so  kindly  accorded  us  by  the  young- 
Secretary  of  the  Foreign  I'oard. 

We  miss  sadly,  at  this  time,  one  who  for  twenty  years  filled  the 
office  of  secretary  of  the  l^jreign  Department  of  our  Society.  Mrs. 
W.  J.  Reid.  In  weakness  and  weariness,  in  suflfering  and  in  pain. 
she  labored  almost  to  the  hour  of  her  death,  giving  the  best  of  her 
time,  of  her  strength  and  of  her  ability  to  the  Master's  service. 
Onlv  those  intimately  associated  with  hcr^can  estimate  aright  the 
personal  sacrifice  required  in  the  performance  of  her  duties.  "She 
rests  from  her  labors  and  her  works  do  follow  her."  They  follow, 
in  a  degree,  in  the  choice  that  has  been  made  of  her  successor  in 
(office.     Warned  by  recurring  attacks  of  illness,  with  almost  pi\  ■ 


THE  WOxMlix'S   MISSIONARY  SOCIETY.  1^35 

phetic  insight,  she  selected  the  one  to  whose  care  she  was  satisfied 
to  intrust  her  treasured  work,  who,  taking  it  up  as  it  dropped  from 
her  tired  hands,  guards  safely  the  precious  legacy,  and  will  guard 
it  as  long  as  strength  is  given  her  for  the  purpose. 

Tt  was  the  comment  of  the  Saviour  as  He  contemplated  the 
possibilities  in  the  work  of  His  Church,  "The  harvest  is  truly 
plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are  few."  Never  in  any  age  of  the 
church  has  the  disproportion  between  the  requirements  of  the 
missionary  field  and  of  willing  hearts  and  hands  been  more  sorely 
felt  than  to-day.  Noiu,  as  in  the  beginning,  it  is  a  little  band  of 
disciples  upon  whom  the  burden  rests.  Nozv,  as  fheUj  the  church 
has  to  deal  with  those  who  are  unsympathetic,  if  not  actually  hos- 
tile. Nozv,  as  then,  it  is  desirable  that  a  spirit  of  enthusiasm  should 
be  enkindled  in  the  church  at  large. 

Looking  out  into  the  darkness  of  the  world  which  still  awaits 
the  full  radiance  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  we  become  some- 
times despondent.  The  utmost  we  are  able  to  do  appears  to  be  so 
little..  Our  best  efforts  are  often  marred  by  mistakes  or  misunder- 
standings. Yet,  after  all,  what  else  must  we  expect?  The  Master 
has  forewarned  us  that  those  who  follow  Him  have  no  easy  task, 
and  the  apostle  Paul  tells  us  that  we  must  endure  hardness  if  we 
would  be  good  soldiers  of  the  cross. 

The" conflict  between  right  and  wrong,  between  good  and  evil, 
goes  on  unceasingly  and  will  go  on  until  the  consummation  shall 
be  reached.  Temporary  defeats  and  occasional  embarrassments 
are  the  incidents  only  of  this  great  struggle.  We  are  assured  that 
the  cause  of  truth  which  is  the  cause  of  the  Saviour  will  ultimately 
triumph. 

As  women  it  is  our  ardent  wish  to  bear  our  share  of  the  burden 
of  this  warfare,  to  minister  with  our  hands  and  our  hearts  to  the 
requirements  of  the  Saviour  in  the  spirit  of  our  sisters  of  Galilee, 
of  Mary  and  Martha,  and  Joanna  and  Salome,  and  of  her  especi- 
ally whom  our  Lord  commended,  saying,  "She  hath  done  what 
she  could."  If  we  cannot  do  much  let  us  do  our  little  with  a 
consecrated  purpose  and  prayerful  insistence,  knowing  that  work 
done  for  the  love  of  Christ  furnishes  its  own  reward. 

May  I  be  permitted  to  give,  not  in  any  spirit  of  vain  glory,  but 
in  order  that  we  may  be  stimulated  to  yet  greater  exertions,  the 
testimony  of  a  distinguished  divine,  of  another  communion,  who 
speaks  thus  encouragingly  concerning  wome;i's  work  in  the 
Church.  "Fifty-seven  years  of  ministerial  work  have  only  served 
to  extend  my  views  of  female  religious  character  and  the  blessed- 


236  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILE;E    CONVENTION. 

ness  that  comes  with  it.  With  all  the  opportunities  I  have  had,  I 
do  not  know  that  I  ever  say  a  thoroughly  corrupt  woman.  I 
do  not  know  that  I  ever  saw  a  woman  that  was  uninfluenced  by  a 
degree  of  religious  meditation.  I  have  seen  them  bedizened  with 
luxury  and  power,  and  yet  in  the  very  eyes  of  all  this  array  of 
position — if  I  may  so  call  it — I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  saw  a 
woman  to  whose  mind  there  was  not  access  for  Christian  truth, 
and  that  had  not  some  point  which  Christian  action  could  reach. 
Woman  has  been  a  continued  help  to  me  in  my  work.  My  whole 
happiness  and  light  has  come  from  that  source.  They  have  as- 
sisted my  work,  they  have  upheld  my  work,  they  have  blest  my 
work.  They  have  made  it  pleasant  and  encouraging,  and  I  look 
back  from  this  extreme  of  life  to  bless  them  for  that  influence 
which  has  carried  me  so  far  toward  the  end,  and  so  near  the 
conclusion  of  the  work  God  has  given  me  to  do.  I  speak  after  hav- 
ing given  the  most  serious  consideration  to  what  I  say,  and  I  also 
speak  in  the  agreeable  recollection  of  a  thousand  facts  in  my 
memory  which  would  sustain  me  in  every  position  I  take." 


CONFERENCE 
Following  Mrs.  Herron's  Paper. 

Opening  this  Conference,  Mr.  John  H.  Murdoch  said: 

The  next  order  upon  the  program  is  another  conference,  re- 
lating, as  you  will  notice,  largely  to  the  women's  work  with  refer- 
ence to  foreign  missions,  and  here  we  will  be  apt  to  hear  from  our 
sisters  upon  this  subject;  not  excluding,  however,  the  gentlemen 
who  are  present.  The  same  rules  will  apply  to  this  conference 
as  to  the  preceding  one,  and  we  will  ask  you  to  be  prompt.  It 
may  be  painful  for  me  to  use  the  gavel  when  a  lady  is  speaking, 
but  I  presume  it  will  be  all  right ;  the  speakers  will  try  and  govern 
themselves  accordingly. 

Here  is  a  question  which  has  been  presented  to  me  (not  on  the 
program),  and  I  will  read  it  now  that  it  may  be  answered  by 
somebody :  "What  part  of  the  money  paid  to  the  Women's 
General  Missionary  Society  is  used  in  paying  salaries  to  the 
Wom^i's  Board?"  That  is  a  question  that  someone  is  to  answer, 
and  we  would  like  to  hear  the  answer  now  before  we  take  up  the 
other  questions  on  the  program. 

Someone  in  audience:  Ask  Mrs.  Campbell,  the  Chairman  of 
the  Finance  Committee,  to  answer  the  question. 

Mrs.  FI.  C.  Campbell :  There  are  fifteen  members  on  the 
Women's  Board.  Almost  all  of  them  are  housekeepers ;  there  are 
seven  of  them  on  the  Board  that  are  ready  at  any  time  to  leave 
their  homes  to  go  and  make  addresses  in  an\-  congregation  for 
the  benefit  of  the  work.  We  have  two  meetings  in  the  month. 
Some  of  our  members  live  in  Sewickley,  Carnegie,  McKeesport 
and  Latrobe.  These  women  travel  at  their  own  expense.  We,  of 
course,  have  to  buy  our  lunches  on  the  day  of  our  meeting.  We 
have  our  meeting  at  ten  in  the  morning  and  it  often  lasts  until 
five-thirty  in  the  afternoon. 

Anyone  contributing  one  dollar  to  the  work  of  the  General 
Missionary  Society  may  rest  assured  that  one  hundred  cents  will 
go  to  the  work  of  missions.  No  salary  has  ever  been  paid  to  any 
member  of  the  Women's  Board,  and  no  money  ever  accepted  for 

237 


238  FORICIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

any  address  made,  and  many  a  time  the  speakers  have  traveled 
at  their  own  expense  to  make  those  addresses. 

I  should  be  glad,  Mr.  Chairman,  when  the  Centennial  Celebra- 
tion is  held,  if  someone  would  present  to  the  Chairman  of  the 
conference  this  question:  What  does  it  cost  the  members  of  the 
Women's  Board  for  the  privilege  of  serving  the  church?  (Ap- 
plause.) 

The  Chairman :  Very  satisfactorily  and  fully  answered.  Now, 
we  are  ready  for  the  other  questions,  or  any  other  questions  you 
desire;  but  you  had  better  confine  yourself,  if  possible,  to  the 
questions  before  you.     Please  now  proceed. 

Question :  How  can  the  missionary  spirit  be  developed  in  the 
home  church? 

Answer:  Remember  the  instructions  given  by  Dr.  McGill,  re- 
turn to  your  home  and  put  that  instruction  into  practice.  Then 
our  congregations  will  become  missionary  churches.  Notice,  also, 
on  the  last  page  of  this  program,  a  remark  by  Dr.  Pentecost: 
"To  the  pastor  belongs  the  privilege  and  the  responsibility  of 
solving  the  foreign  missionary  problem." 

Traveling  over  the  church  for  some  six  months  after  returning 
from  Egypt,  I  visited  perhaps  thirty-five  or  fifty  churches,  and  I 
never  found  a  pastor  that  was  alive  on  missions  but  that  he  had 
a  missionary  church ;  I  never  found  a  pastor  that  was  only  half 
interested  in  missions  but  that  his  congregation  was  cold  in  the 
missionary  work. 

Question  :  To  stimulate  the  missionary  s|)irit,  would  it  not  be 
advisable  to  plan  for  a  prayer  service  for  missions  at  least  once  a 
month  in  every  congregation  in  our  church  ? 

Answer:  I  think  it  would.  It  has  been  laid  on  my  heart  that 
we  spend  half  an  hour  of  the  midweek  prayer  meeting  in  devo- 
tional service,  indicating  the  specific,  or,  I  should  say,  the  par- 
ticular mission, — say  India, — and  praying  for  the  missionaries  of 
that  mission,  and  so  taking  up  another  the  next  month,  and  go 
the  whole  round  of  the  field  in  that  way.  in  prayer  revivals 
always  start.  This  will  be  beneficial,  it  will  be  quickening,  it  will 
be  educational,  and  make  the  congregation  better  acquainted  with 
the  mission  fields  and  the  missionaries  there. 

Question:  What  are  the  chief  hindrances  in  the  training  of 
children  in  missionary  service? 

Answer:  I  presume  the  question  implies  that  the  difficulty  lies 
with  the  children.  I  think  there  are  three  chief  hindrances:  The 
first  one  is  ignorance,  the  second  is  indifft-rence,  and  the  third  is 


TIIK  woman's   MISSIOXARV   SdClKTY.  239 

in(k>]cnce.  You  may  ])ut  them  llic  dlher  wav  and  say  the  first  is 
inflolence.  the  second  ig-norancc,  and  ttie  third  indifference.  Any 
way  you  run  thcni,  the  difficulty  seems  to  1)e  not  with  the  chikh'en, 
but  with  those  who  are  and  ought  to  be  interested  enoiigh  in  the 
children  to  interest  the  children.  A  child  becomes  interested  in 
anything  that  those  who  are  its  teachers  are  interested  in. 

Question:  Should  mission  churches  dependino^  on  any  of  the 
r.oards  for  partial  support  undertake  the  salary  of  the  missionary 
in  any  of  the  mission  fields  ? 

Answer:  The  mission  church  should  support  a  missionary  or 
join  other  mission  churches  in  the  support  of  a  missionary,  and 
thus  by  giving  the  lesser  receive  the  greater  blessing.  I  think  we 
will  find,  and  we  know  from  what  we  have  heard  to-day,  that 
this  is  the  secret  of  self-support  in  so  many  of  our  congregations 
in  India  and  Egypt. 

Question  :  How  can  a  better  attendance  of  members  be  secured 
at  our  missionary  meetings,  and  how  can  we  interest  church  mem- 
bers in  mission  work  who  do  not  attend  the  missionary  meetings  ? 

Answer.  There  are  two  essentials  to  this^prayer  and  infor- 
mation. It  is  not  to  the  credit  of  the  church  that  so  large  a  num- 
ber of  them  have  no  interest  in  missionary  literature.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  know  and  understand,  in  order  to  serve  intelligently.  We 
must  learn  to  pray  for  missions.  The  study  of  missions  will 
awaken  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  young  people,  as  well  as  in 
older  ones.  It  is  the  hope  of  the  church  that  systematic  study, 
with  the  large  vision  that  this  will  give,  will  at  least  bring  in  that 
large  number  of  women,  fifty-five  thousand,  who  are  indifferent 
to  missions. 

Question  :  What  are  the  chief  hindrances  in  the  training  of 
children  in  missionary  service  ? 

Answer:  One  of  the  chief  hindrances  to  the  training  of  chil- 
dren in  missionary  service  lies  in  the  start.  Someone  has  said, 
"To  make  a  man  God  begins  with  his  mother."  If  the  mother's 
heart  is  aglow  and  she  is  thoroughly  interested  in  missions,  she 
can  interest  her  children  as  she  goes  about  her  daily  work.  Show 
me  the  father  and  mother  who  gather  their  children  around  the 
family  altar  morning  and  evening,  and  offer  prayers  for  the  mis- 
sionary cause,  and  I  will  show  you  a  father  and  mother  \vh<^  are 
training  their  children  for  the  foreign  service. 

Another  hindrance,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  lack  of  missionary 
literature  that  is  suited  for  the  children.  Our  Sabbath  school 
papers  are  very  good,  our  books  that  we  have  on  India  and  Egypt 


240  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

are  excellent,  but  the}-  are  not  suited  for  children  between  the 
ages  of  six  and  fifteen.  I  have  often  wondered  why  our  Women's 
Board  has  not  published  a  missionary  primer,  with  the  thrilling 
stories  of  the  pioneer  missionary  work  in  India  and  Egypt  incor- 
I)orated  in  it — such  as  the  story  of  the  Sepoy  rebellion,  the  story 
of  cnir  work  in  the  Sudan,  and  many  others.  I  am  sure  that  if 
we  had  such  a  book  in  simple  language  that  our  children  would 
devour  it  as  eagerly  as  they  would  the  most  interesting  fairy  story. 

y.ucstion  :  How  can  the  missionary  spirit  be  developed  in  the 
home  churcli  ? 

Answer:  The  development  can  only  proceed  along  educational 
lines.  I  think  three  things  may  be  included.  It  seems  to  me  that 
in  this  convention  the  dominant  thought  is  that  God  has  ordered 
it.  And  that  is  sufficient  vindication  of  a  foreign  missionary 
policy,  whether  results  indicated  it  or  not.  Second,  that  God  and 
the  church  appreciate  it,  and  third,  that  the  results  vindicate  what 
has  been  given,  the  sacrifice  that  has  been  made. 

Question :  What  are  the  chief  hindrances  in  the  training  of 
children  in  missionary  service. 

-Answer:  1  cannot  help  but  think  that  one  of  the  great  hin- 
drances to  the  united  education  of  children  in  missionarv  intelli- 
gence and  in  missionary  interest  is  the  fact  that  we  do  not  talk 
of  it  at  home.  They  talked  of  these  things  in  the  old  early  church, 
it  was  table  talk  to  a  great  extent,  and  was  no  doubt  on  this  one 
theme,  "What  hath  God  wrought?"  And  in  the  old  Israelitish 
time,  they  were  commanded  to  talk  to  their  children  by  the  way. 
Do  we  talk  about  missionary  achievements  in  our  homes?  Or  do 
we  talk  about  the  things  of  the  world  ?  Let  us  ask  this  question : 
What  do  you  talk  to  your  children  about  at  home?  That  comes 
home  to  all  of  us. 

Question:  Should  mission  churches  depending  on  any  of  the 
Boards  for  i)artial  supi)ort  undertake  the  salary  of  a  missionary 
in  any  of  tlu'  mission  fields?  Dr.  Watson  is  requested  to  answer 
this. 

Answer:  I  hardly  recognize  myself  under  that  title,  but  still 
1  will  try  to  answer  the  question.  I  would  say  }es.  In  this  way. 
'J'here  is  a  ])lan  called  the  ".Specific  Work"  ])lan,  by  which  a 
congregation  or  society  may  su])])ort  a  missionary  or  a  mission 
station  or  take'  shares  in  the  su])port  of  the  same.  This  is  not  an 
outside  special.  \\y  this  melhod  }'(ni  can  give  a  certain  amount 
and  have  it  e()unte(l  in  on  the  regular  work  and  have  it  credited  to 
>ou  on  the  (juoia,  and  yet  know  definitely  that  it  goes,  as  so  many 


THE  women's  missionary  SOCIETY.  -41 

shares,  towards  the  support  of  a  particular  missionary  or  mission 
station.  If  a  mission  church  that  is  still  being  supported  by  the 
Board  contributes  to  the  dififerent  Boards  of  the  church,  as  we 
believe  it  should  in  order  to  have  a  spirit  of  liberality  from  its 
very  beginning ; — if  it  should  contribute,  say,  twenty-five  dollars 
to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  in  the  natural  course  of  events, 
it  can  assign  that  twenty-five  dollars  as  one  share  in  the  support 
of  a  particular  missionary,  and,  of  course,  can  go  as  much  beyond 
that  as  it  wishes. 

The  Chairman :  The  conference  will  now  close.  Before  pass- 
ing to  the  next  order  upon  the  program,  by  request,  we  are  going 
to  ask  the  missionaries  of  India  and  Egypt  to  come  to  the  platform 
and  sing  in  the  native  dialect  in  which  they  are  accustomed  to 
sing,  two  verses  of  the  Twenty-third  Psalm. 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS  IN  THE  SABBATH  SCHOOL  AND 
YOUNG  PEOPLE'S  SOCIETY. 

C.    V.    VICKREY,    ESQ. 

Yoli  have  before  you  a  number  of  topics  which  we  will  take 
up  later  in  the  afternoon,  topics  pertaining  to  methods  of  mis- 
sionary work  in  the  Sabbath  school  and  Young-  People's  Society, 
but  I  feel  more  important  than  any  piece  of  machinery  and  more 
important  than  any  consideration  of  methods  is  the  consideration 
of  the  zvhcrefore  of  this  work.  That  is,  Why  should  we  make  any 
special  effort  to  put  a  missionary  impress  upon  the  Sabbath  schools 
and  Young  People's  Societies?  Can  anyone  tell  me  in  a  word 
one  reason  why  we  should  cultivate  the  Sabbath  schools  for 
missions  ? 

A  delegate:     Because  the  Sabbath  school  is  the  future  church. 

A  delegate :     Because  they  are  the  workers  in  the  church. 

A  delegate :  Because  we  get  our  missionaries  from  the  Sab- 
bath schools. 

A  delegate:     Because  they  are  more  easily  influenced. 

A  delegate:     Because   they   are   at  the   habit- forming   period. 

Mr.  Vickrey:  The  reasons  that  have  been  given  are  sufficient, 
I  think,  to  warrant  our  putting  a  large  part  of  our  energy  into  the 
training  of  the  Sabbath  school : 

First,  because  in  the  Sabbath  school  of  to-day  is  enrolled  the 
church  of  to-morrow.  Second,  in  the  S.abbath  school  of  to-day 
the  church  of  to-morrow  is  organized.  That  is,  it  is  a  great  army, 
it  is  easily  moved,  it  has  its  captains,  and  its  lieutenants,,  and  its 
sergeants.  There  is  no  organization  through  which  orders  can  go 
down  to  the  church  so  easily  as  in  the  Sabbath  school  organiza- 
tion. Third,  not  only  are  they  em-olled  and  organized,  but  they 
are  in  training.  They  are  at  this  moment  forming  those  habits 
and  those  principles  which  are  to  stand  by  them  through  life. 
The  period  of  greatest  religious  interest  is  between  the  ages  of 
twelve  and  twenty,  and  it  is  also  the  period  when  the  largest 
numlicr  of  conversions  occur  and  the  largest  number  of  life 
decisions  arc  made.     Is  it  not  clear,  then,  that  if  we  are  to  have 

242 


TllH   SAIil'.ATII    SCHOOL  AND   YOUNG    PICOI'LE'S   SOCIKTV.       243 

an  intensely  missionary  church  fifteen  or  twenty  years  hence,  we 
must  liave  an  intensely  missionary  Sabbath  school  to-day,  and 
from  a  non-missionary  Sabbath  school  we  will  inevitably 
reap  a  non-missionary  church.  You  might  just  as  well  throw 
arithmetic  out  from  the  curriculum  of  our  high  schools  and  jiublic 
schools  and  expect  to  have  a  generation  of  mathematicians  as 
throw  missions  out  of  the  Sabbath  school  curriculum  and  expect 
to  have  a  missionary  church. 

Then  there  is  another  reason  I  would  like  to  suggest.  The  fifth 
reason  is  that  in  the  Sabbath  schools  and  Young  People's  Societies 
alone  there  is  to-day  enough  latent  power  to  evangelize  the  world 
within  a  single  generation  without  any  consideration  whatever 
of  the  power  that  is  with  the  older  and  wealthier  church  members. 
We  have  men  enough  to  evangelize  the  world.  There  are  in  the 
Sabbath  schools  to-day  more  than  three  hundred  times  as  many 
persons  enrolled  as  would  be  necessary  for  the.  evangelization  of 
the  world  in  this  generation.  Or,  in  other  words,  just  one-third 
of  one  per  cent,  of  our  Sabbath  school  scholars  alone  would  fur- 
nish all  the  men  and  all  the  women  that  are  necessary  for  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation.  J\Ien  enough? 
No  question  about  it.  The  great  nations  of  the  world  have  more 
than  twenty-five  times  as  many  men  on  the  pay.  rolls  of  their 
standing  armies  as  would  be  required  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
whole  world.  More  men  have  been  killed  and  wounded  in  a 
single  battle  in  Eastern  Asia  during  the  past  few  weeks  than 
would  be  required  for  the  evangelization  of  the  whole  world. 
More  men  have  been  killed  or  wounded  in  any  one  of  a  dozen 
great  battles  that  might  be  named  than  would  be  required 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  Unquestionably  there  are 
men  enough.  There  is  also  money  enough.  I  sometimes  have  in 
a  church  of  this  kind  a  great  long  black  tape  more  than  four 
hundred  feet  in  length,  stretched  from  chandelier  to  chandelier, 
and  from  balcony  to  balcony,  making  a  sort  of  cobweb  of  tape 
over  the  room.  I  used  this  four  hundred  feet  of  black  tape  to 
represent  the  twenty-five  billions  of  dollars  of  wealth  in  the 
hands  of  the  Protestant  church  members  of  America. 

We  are  not  talking  about  the  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  saloon 
keepers  and  the  brewers ;  we  are  not  talking  even  of  the  wealth 
that  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  though  much  of  it 
may  be  just  as  consecrated  as  our  wealth ;  but  we  are  talking  only 
of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  Protestant  church  members  of 
America,  a  wealth  every  cent  of  which,  theoretically,  at  least,  has 


244  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

been  consecrated  to  the  extension  of  the  king-dom  of  our  Lord, 
l-'our  hundred  feet  of  black  tape,  cobwebbing  the  room,  represent- 
ing- twenty-five  bilhons  of  dollars. 

On  the  same  scale  that  the  long  tape  cobwebs  the  room,  I  have 
another  piece  of  tape,  which  is  more  than  twelve  feet  in  length, 
red  in  color,  and  which  I  use  to  represent  the  seven  hundred  and 
twenty  millions  of  dollars  fhat  these  same  Protestant  church  mem- 
bers lay  up  every  year  over  and  above  all  expenditures,  extrava- 
gances and  luxuries.  After  we  have  spent  all  the  money  that  we 
will  on  ourselves,  we  have  seven  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of 
dollars  every  year  of  annual  increase,  wealth  that  we  do  not  know 
what  to  do  with,  as  it  were,  stored  up  in  safe  deposit  vaults  for 
lack  of  better  use.    Seven  hundred  and  twenty  millions  of  dollars. 

On  the  same  scale  with  the  black  tape  that  cobwebs  the  room, 
and  with  the  red  tape  twelve  feet  in  length,  I  have  another  piece, 
white  in  color,  just  one  inch  in  length,  and  that  one  inch  represents 
the  amount  of  that  same  consecrated  wealth — twenty-five  bil- 
lions of  dollars — that  this  same  Protestant  Christian  church  con- 
tributes every  year  in  obedience  to  the  last  parting  request  of  Him 
Who  gave  His  life  for  us.  Yes,  we  have  men  enough  to  evan- 
gelize the  world,  and  we  have  money  enough  to  evangelize  the 
world,  but  vastly  more  important  than  either  men  or  money,  and 
without  which  both  are  as  naught,  we  either  have  or  should  have 
power  enough.  Power  enough?  How  much  power?  "And 
Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them,  saying,  All  power,  all  power  is 
given  unto  Me.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  and,  lo ! 
I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

Yes,  the  Christian  church  to-day,  without  any  manner  of  doubt, 
has  men  enough,  and  money  enough,  and  either  has  or  should 
have  power  enough  to  evangelize  the  world  in  our  generation. 
The  point  I  am  getting  at  is  this :  1  don't  have  much  hope  of 
(■\er  getting  an  adequate  amount  of  that  twenty-five  billions  of 
dollars  of  wealth  out  of  the  hands  of  the  hardened — some  of  them 
are — money  makers  that  now  control  it.  Their  habits  in  life  are 
fixed.  You  don't  change  men's  habits  much  after  they  are  fifty 
or  sixty  years  of  age.  Within  fifteen  years,  or  within  twenty 
years  at  the  most,  that  twenty-five  billions  of  dollars  of  wealth 
and  the  immeasurable  moral  and  spiritual  resources  of  the  church 
are  going  to  be  absolutely  controlled  by  those  who  are  now  in  our 
Sabbath  schools  and  in  our  Young  People's  Societies,  aiid  who 
are  now  making  their  life  decisions,  who  are  now  choosing  their 
life's  princi])les,  who  are  now  forming  their  habits  of  Christian 


THE  SABBATH   SCHOOL  AND  YOUNG   PI^OPLK'S  SOCIETY.       245 

Stewardship,  and  who  are  now  at  the  age  of  greatest  rehgious 
interest.  If  we  can  bring  the  missionary  spirit  into  the  Hves  of 
these  Sabbath  school  scholars  and  members  of  Young  People's 
Societies,  it  ought  not  to  be  said  twenty  years  hence  that  there  is 
a  great  cry  over  there  for  workers,  with  workers  in  America 
ready  to  go,  but  the  church  at  home  with  almost  disgracefully 
large  accumulations  of  wealth  refusing  to  give  the  money  to  send 
the  workers  to  meet  the  need,  in  obedience  to  the  command  of 
Christ. 

I  believe  that  the  Sabbath  schools  and  Young  People's  Societies 
hold  in  their  power  the  solution  of  the  missionary  problem. 

The  question  next  arises,  "How  may  we  develop  the  jiiissionary 
interest  in  these  Sabbath  schools?"  We  must  launch  out  upon  a 
comprehensive  educational  policy.  Our  government,  national, 
state  and  municipal,  does  not  hesitate  to  appropriate  millions  and 
millions  of  dollars  for  the  education  of  school  children  for  future 
citizenship,  believing  that  those  millions  of  dollars  come  back 
many  fold  fifteen  and  twenty  years  hence  when  these  children 
have  come  to  manhood  and  w^omanhood.  We  heartily  approve 
such  expenditure  by  the  future  government  for  education  of  its 
citizens,  but  apparently  expect  our  missionary  boards  to  continue 
the  penny-wise,  hand-to-mouth  method  of  extorting  all  the  money 
they  can  from  the  Sunday  schools,  and  appropriating,  as  a  rule, 
absolutely  nothing,  or  at  least  very  little,  for  the  education  of  that 
great  constituency  from  which  it  must  expect  its  future  support. 

I  am  glad,  however,  to  note  a  change  that  is  taking  place  in  this 
policy.  It  was  only  last  month  that  one  of  our  denominations 
that  has  been  receiving  annually  from  its  Sabbath  schools  the 
magnificent  sum  of  one-half  a  million  dollars,  appropriated  eigh- 
teen thousand  dollars  for  the  salary  and  expenses  of  a  secretary 
and  office  force  to  be  devoted  exclusively  to  the  cultivation  and 
education  of  the  Sabbath  schools  and  Young  People's  Societies 
along  missionary  lines.  There  are  in  America  to-day  six  denomi- 
nations each  of  which  has  a  man  who  gives  his  entire  time  to  the 
cultivation  of  this  field,  upon  which  the  future  of  the  missionary 
cause  depends.  And  there  are  two  or  three  other  denominations 
that  are  expecting  to  begin  at  an  early  date  the  cultivation  of  this 
most  fruitful  of  missionary  fields.  I  beheve  we  are  coming  to  a 
new  era,  and  will  soon  see  that  it  is  just  as  important  to  spend 
money  and  put  forth  well-directed  efforts  to  develop  missionary 
interest  in  Sabbath  schools  as  it  is  to  put  forth  money  in  the 
education  of  our  future  citizens. 


246  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

METHODS    OF    WORK    IN    THE    YOUNG    PEOPLE'S    SOCIETY. 

What  is  the  best  method  of  getting'  the  Young-  People's  Society 
hiterested  in  missions?  Shall  we  have  first  a  missionary  com- 
mittee? If  SO,  how  shall  it  be  chosen,  and  of  whom  shall  it  con- 
sist? I  want  to  plead  this  afternoon  for  the  appointment  of  the 
strongest  member  of  the  society  as  the  chairman  of  the  missionary 
committee.  I  admire  the  wisdom  of  some  of  my  friends  that  dur- 
ing the  past  year  have  declined  re-election  as  presidents  of  their 
Young  People's  Society  in  order  that  they  may  accept  what  they 
regarded  as  the  more  important  position — chairman  of  the  mis- 
sionary committee. 

We  should  have  the  strongest  members  of  the  Society  on  the 
committee,    ^^^^lat  other  suggestions  have  you  ? 

A  delegate:     Some  one  who  is  interested  in  the  mission  work. 

A  delegate :     Prayer. 

Mr.  Vickrey :  That  means,  first,  prayer  in  the  selection  of  the 
missionary  committee,  and  it  means,  second,  some  one  who  be- 
lieves in  prayer. 

A  delegate :  Some  one  who  is  willing  to  make  out  a  plan 
for  the  society. 

A  delegate :  Some  one  who  has  patience  to  keep  hold  after 
the  novelty  has  worn  off. 

A  delegate :     Some  one  who  is  willing  to  work. 

A  delegate:     Some  one  who  is  exceedingly  busy. 

Mr.  Vickrey:  Now,  we  have  seven.  May  I  suggest  another 
one,  the  eighth :  Have  on  your  committee  some  of  the  younger 
members.  You  have  seen  missionary  committees  made  up  of 
members  over  fifty  >cars  of  age.  I  saw  one  made  up  of  women 
(jver  sixty  years  of  age.  They  possibl}^  do  good  work,  but  some 
day  that  church  is  going  to  be  without  a  leader  in  its  missionary 
work. 

Let  us  come  to  the  second  i)oint  on  our  syllabus :    What  are  the " 
duties  (if  the  committee?    Will  somebody  suggest  some  things  for 
the  missionary  committee  to  do? 

A  delegate:    To  give  information. 

Mr.   X'ickrey:     In  what  way? 

A  delegate:    Along  missionary  lines. 

.\  delegate :    The  first  thing  is  to  have  a  committee  meeting. 

.Mr.  \ickrey:  ^^lay  1  suggest  that  the  committee  arrange  to 
have  iiioiitlily  comnfittee  meetings.  I  believe  that  the  missionary 
committee  ought  to  have  a  meeting  once  a  month.     A  friend  of 


TlIi;  SABDATII    SCHOOL  AND  YOUNCi   PIvOPLE'S  SOCIETY.       247 

mine,  who  is  chairman  of  one  of  the  most  successful  missionary 
committees  I  know,  says  that  in  the  first  place  the  missionary 
committee  has  sufficient  business  to  make  a  monthly  meeting 
uiecessary,  but  if  it  has  not  business  enough  to  make  the  meeting 
necessary  it  ought  to  meet  once  a  month  to  find  something  to  do. 

I  have  four  or  five  reasons  in  my  mind  why  the  missionary  com- 
mittee should  have  monthly  meetings.  First,  if  for  no  other 
reason,  for  prayer.  If  the  missionary  committee  has  nothing  else 
to  do  at  its  monthly  meeting  it  should  get  together  once  a  month 
for  prayer  concerning  its  problems.  The  second  reason  I  have  in 
mind  is  that  it  may  plan  and  prepare  for  the  monthly  missionary 
meetings.  A  third  reason  is,  for  inspiration.  I  do  not  believe 
that  any  committee  can  be  very  enthusiastic  as  long  as  all  the 
individuals  are  working  independently.  A  fourth  reason  is  that 
they  may  constitute  the  nucleus  of  a  mission  study  class.  I  mean 
a  mission  study  class  that  really  studies  the  missionary  work  in 
Egypt  and  India,  as  you  study  Shakespeare  or  Browning.  And 
then  another  reason  I  have  why  they  should  come  together  once 
a  month  is  that  they  may  check  up  the  annual  policy.  I  believe 
that  somebody  suggested  a  moment  ago  that  one  of  the  first  things 
this  committee  should  do  was  to  g-et  together  and  map  out  a 
policy,^a  plan  of  work  which  they  propose  to  accomplish  this 
coming  year  in  their  society. 

We  propose,  for  instance,  to  secure  a  missionary  library  and 
to  circulate  it.  •  We  propose  once  a  month  to  have  a  missionary 
meeting ;  we  propose  to  promote  prayer  for  missions ;  we  propose 
to  secure  a  certain  amount  for  missions,  and  so  on.  Month  by 
month,  as  the  committee  meets,  it  will  check  over  that  policy. 
How  far  along  are  we  in  the  amount  we  were  going  to  raise  this 
year  ?  How  far  along  are  we  in  circulating  these  books  ?  Check 
up  the  work  and  talk  it  over,  pray  over  it  once  every  month,  and 
get  a  new  impetus  for  the  month  that  is  to  follow. 

How  about  the  missionary  library  ?  I  w^onder  how  many  socie- 
ties here  have  a  missionary  library  in  their  Young  People's  Socie- 
ties ?    Will  somebody  tell  us  how  they  got  their  library  ? 

A  delegate :    Given  to  us  by  a  friend. 

A  delegate:  Free-will  offerings  from  the  members  of  the 
society. 

Mr.  Vickrey :  Those  of  }ou  who  have  no  missionary  libraries 
take  note  of  these  plans,  for  I  do  not  believe  we  can  have  a  really 
successful  missionary  work  without  missionary  libraries.  We 
might  just  as  well  try  to  build  a  liouse  without  tools  as  to  build  up 


248  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

a  missionary  interest  without  a  missionary  library.  There  are 
some  things  we  can  evolve  out  of  our  inner  consciences,  but  we 
can  never  evolve  a  missionary  meeting  out  of  our  inner  con- 
sciences.   We  must  have  the  material. 

A  delegate:     Different  members  subscribed  for  the  books. 

A  delegate:  Make  out  a  list  of  the  books  that  you  want  to 
purchase,  place  the  list  price  opposite  that,  and  the  special  cost 
price  you  can  get  them  at, — and  most  of  them  you  can  get  at  a 
discount, — and  then  ask  your  friends  to  sign  their  names  opposite 
the  book  which  they  wish  purchased — wish  to  purchase  and  buy 
for  the  society. 

A  delegate :  Divide  the  cost  between  the  societies,  the  Young 
People's  Society  and  the  Sabbath  school ;  all  unite  in  the  purchase 
of  the  library.    Three  or  four  different  organizations  meet. 

Mr.  Vickrey :  The  next  big  question,  "How  shall  we  circulate 
that  library  ?  It  is  one  thing  to  get  the  books ;  it  is  quite  another 
thing  to  get  those  books  read.  I  suppose  a  Carnegie  might  help 
us  out  in  getting  the  libraries,  but  there  is  no  Carnegie  who  can 
solve  the  real  problem — to  get  the  books  read.  Who  can  suggest 
a  plan? 

A  delegate :  Hold  a  missionary  meeting  at  which  members  of 
the  congregation  are  prepared  and  papers  are  prepared  to  be  read. 
In  other  words,  base  your  meetings  upon  the  library,  so  that  every 
person  taking  part  in  that  missionary  meeting  will  be  obliged  to 
have  read  certain  parts  of  certain  books  to  get  certain  material. 

A  delegate:     Have  special  studies  in  the  books  of  the  library. 

A  delegate:  Read  the  books  yourself,  and  become  enthusiastic 
over  it  and  talk  about  it  to  others. 

Mr.  Vickrey:  What  have  some  of  the  pastors  done  to  get  the 
books  read? 

A  pastor :  Preached  on  some  of  the  books ;  they  went  like  wild 
fire  after  that.  I  know  a  pastor  referred  to  a  book  in  a  sermon, 
and  the  bookseller  said  he  sold  sixty  copies  the  next  week. 

A  pastor:  I  know  another  pastor  who  took  "In  His  Steps" 
from  home  to  home,  loaned  it  to  each  member,  and  had  it  read 
170  times,  that  one  book,  just  by  his  personal  work  in  his  pastoral 
calls.  And  isn't  it  reasonable  that  we  as  members  of  the  mis- 
sionary committee  should  take  those  books  from  house  to  house 
and  loan  them,  just  as  the  Booklovers'  Library  is  introducing  and 
bringing  books  to  our  houses.  If  they  will  do  it  for  gain  should 
we  not  do  it  for  the  sake  of  getting  this  work  before  our  people? 

A  delegate:    Have  you  ever  tried  a  book  review  meeting?    At 


the;  sabbath  scph)oi.  an'd  ^■()^^•■;■;  I'lvonjfs  society.      249 

a  meeting'  have  perhaps  half  a  dozen  books,  and  jnst  hrielly  review 
them,  some  of  the  most  interesting  extracts,  and  cho])  them  right 
in  two  in  the  most  interesting  part,  just  where  it  gets  the  most 
interesting,  and  announce  at  the  conckision  of  the  meeting  those 
interested  in  these  books  may  get  them  at  the  Hbrary,  the  mis- 
sionary hbrary. 

Mr.  Vickrey :  Can  you  report  any  results  from  missionary 
reading?  What  have  been  some  of  the  results  fr.  ni  this  circu- 
lation of  missionary  libraries?  I  know  one  society  that  had  more 
than  one  hundred  missionary  books  read  during  this  past  year. 
May  I  tell  you  that  since  they  have  read  the  missionary  books 
this  society  has  jumped  in  its  contributions  from  fifty  dollars  a 
year  to  the  support  of  an  American  missionary  at  a  salary  of 
six  hundred  dollars.  Does  it  seem  strange  that  they  should  in- 
crease their  giving  ten  fold  in  the  course  of  a  year?  It  will  not 
seem  strange  if  you  will  read  just  one  or  two  of  the  one  hundred 
books  that  they  have  circulated. 

Then,  on  the  subject  of  the  Sabbath  school.  What  method  shall 
we  take  up  in  our  Sabbath  school?  What  Sabbath  school  super- 
intendent is  here  who  can  tell  us  some  plan  he  has  l)ecn  using 
successfully  for  quickening  the  missionary  interest  among  the 
Sabbath  school  scholars? 

A  delegate:  In  our  school  we  undertook  to  support  a  lady  mis- 
sionary, and  we  have  letters  from  her  once  ever\-  two  months. 
We  have  missionary  exercises  four  times  a  year ;  sometimes  a 
little  more  frequently.  W^e  bought  literature  from  our  Secretary 
and  our  Board,  and  the  Sabbath  school  session  is  entirely  devoted 
to  missionary  information  and  inspiration.  The  scholars  of  the 
school,  as  well  as  members  of  the  church,  take  part,  but  largely 
leaving  the  program  in'  the  hands  of  the  \ounger  ])ersons  outside 
the  school.  We  find  our  Sabbath  school  contributions  grew  froni 
sixty  dollars  to  seven  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

Mr.  Vickrey:  The  contributions  from  a  single  Sal)l)ath  school 
grew  from  sixty  dollars  to  seven  hundred  dollars.  That  is  more 
than  ten  fold  increase  as  a  result  of  this  cultivation  for  which  we 
are  appealing  here  this  afternoon.  Can  that  not  be  done  in  your 
school?  Is  it  not  possible  that  in  your  Sabbath  school  some 
similar  growth  might  be  brought  about?  I  believe  that  in  every 
Sabbath  school  it  ought  to  be  possible  to  have  a  certain  amount  of 
missionary  instruction,  every  Sunday,  if  possible,  certainly  oftener 
than  once  a  quarter,  and  that  if  we  did  a  marked  increase  in  both 
giving  and  prayer  would  result.     I  suppose  there  are  some  here 


250  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

that  feel  they  can't  (k)  that.  I  am  not  so  sure  but  that  it  is  within 
the  ])Ower  of  ahiiost  every  jierson  in  this  room,  if  they  will,  to 
have  their  re])resentative  on  the  foreign  field  by  means  of  the  work 
they  do  through  the  Sabbath  school  or  through  the  Young  Peo- 
ple's Societies.  There  are  some  of  us  who  hope  to  go  out  to  the 
missionary  field  some  day,  and  I  believe  the  dearest  aim  of  every 
student  volunteer  and  of  every  missionary  is  to  get  out  to  the 
field  where  they  can  tell  the  love  of  Jesus  to  those  who  listen  for 
the  first  lime.  Ihtt  possibly  there  are  in  this  room  this  afternoon 
persons  who  may  be  the  means,  in  God's  hands,  if  they  will,  of 
sending  to  the  fields  two,  three,  four  or  five,  perhaps  a  dozen 
representatives,  which  may  be  ten  or  a  dozen  times  better  than  if 
they  were  to  go  out  to  the  field  in  person.  Do  you  think  it  is  impos- 
sible ?  I  would  like  to  refer  again  to  that  last  testimony,  where  a 
single  school  increased  its  contribution  from  sixty  dollars  to  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  That  means  that  from  that  Sabbath 
school  there  is  to  be  a  missionary  supported  on  the  field.  Why  is 
that  missionary  on  the  field?  That  missionary  is  on  the  field  be- 
cause some  member  of  the  Sabbath  school — I  know^  not  wdio  it  was 
— because  some  member  of  that  Sabbath  school  had  a  vision,  a 
vision  of  the  latent  ])ower  that  was  wrapped  up  in  the  Sabbath 
school,  and  that  person  developed  that  latent  power  by  educational 
methods,  backed  by  prayer,  and  God  honored  his  eft'orts,  until 
to-day  there  is  at  least  the  equivalent  of  an  American  missionary 
laboring  on  the  mission  field  as  the  representative  of  that  school, 
r.ut  can  it  not  all  l)e  traced  back  to  some  one  person  who  asked 
(idd  tu  use  him  as  the  means  in  bringing  about  some  snch  residt? 

1  have  in  mind  this  moment  a  girl,  and  she  is  no  more  than  an 
ordinary  school  teacher,  who  came  to  our  Silver  Bay  Conference, 
and  she  there  caught  a  vision  of  the  possibilities  of  the  Christian 
Endeavor  .Societies  in  New  York  City.  She  went  back  to  New 
York  City  determined  to  be  the  means,  in  God's  hands,  if  she 
could,  of  organizing  mission  study  classes  in  every  Young  I'eo- 
])le's  Society  in  New  ^■ork  City.  That  girl,  during  the  ])ast  two 
vears.  has  been  enabled  to  organize  more  than  one  hundred  mis- 
sion stud\-  classes,  enrolling  more  than  one  thousand  xoung  peo- 
])le,  who  meet  there  in  \ew  ^'ork  City  every  week  arountl  tables 
in  some  librarv  for  the  study  of  C'lirislian  missions,  just  as  a 
Shakesi)eare  Club  or  P.rowning  Club  meets  to  study  Shakespeare 
or  r.rtjwning.  It  is  a  rather  short  time  in  which  to  judge  results,  but 
thus  far  I  know  ])ersonadv  three  persons  out  of  that  one  thousand 
A\''o  lia\c'  caught  a  vision  of  the  need  on  the  fot-eign  field,  and  two 


THK  SAHRATH   SCHOOL  AND   YOUNG   PEOPLEl's   SOCIEI'Y.      251 

of  tluni  arc  now  on  the  ocean  and  the  other  is  under  appointment. 
I  know  i)ne  out  of  that  thousand,  a  young  business  man  who  can- 
not l;x.  himself,  but  who  determined  by  God's  help  to  support  his 
representative  on  the  field.  There  are  four  persons  out  of  that 
one  thousand  that  have  been  brought  under  the  influence  of  the 
mission  study  classes  in  New  York  City,  I  don't  know  anything 
of  the  other  nine  hundred  and  ninety-six,  but  there  are  at  least 
four  persons  out  of  the  thousand  going  out  to  the  field.  Why? 
Because  one  school  teacher,  who  up  to  that  time  was  scarcely 
known,  caught  the  vision  of  the  latent  power  that  was  lying 
unused  in  the  Young  People's  Societies  in  New  York,  and,  having 
caught  the  vision,  she  was  obedient  to  that  vision.  Can  anyone 
here  conscientiously  give  any  reason  why.it  is  impossible  for  us 
to  go  back  from  this  convention  to  our  Sabbath  schools  and  to 
our  Young  People's  Societies  and  accomplish  some  such  results 
as  have  been  reported  here  this  afternoon  ? 

God  has  his  best  gifts  in  this  life  for  the  few  who  dare  to  stand 
the  test.  God  has  his  second  choice  for  those  who  will  not  have 
his  best.  And  some  there  are  who  always  make  the  highest  choice, 
and  when  by  trials  pressed  they  shrink,  they  yield,  they  shun  the 
Cross,  and  so  they  lose  the  best. 

I  Avant  in  this  short  life  of  mine,  and  I  hope  that  every  one  in 
this  churcJj  does — I  want  in  this  short  life  of  mine  just  as  much 
as  may  be  pressed  of  service  true  to  God  and  man,  so  help  me, 
God,  to  be  my  best. 

Let  us  close  with  a  word  of  prayer. 

( )ur  dear  Lord  and  Master,  we  thank  Thee  for  the  privilege, 
for  the  great  honor,  that  Thou  doest  confer  upon  us  of  making 
us  workers  together  with  Thee  in  bringing  this  world  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  Thy  love.  We  thank  Thee,  oh  Lord,  that  Thou  hast  ever 
seen  fit  to  take  us  into  partnership  with  Thee.  And  now,  if  in 
the  coming  days  Thou  doest  call  us  into  a  larger  partnership, 
may  be  not  shrink  back  and  ask  to  be  excused  as  though  it  were 
a  thing  to  be  dreaded,  but  rather  let  us  gladly  put  our  hands  in 
Thine,  and  ask  Thee  to  lead  us,  knowing  that  Thy  Will  is  best. 

And  now,  at  this  hour,  we  would  place  our  talents  and  our 
time  and  all  that  we  have  in  Thy  hands.  We  desire  to  hold  them 
henceforth  only  in  stewardship  for  Thee.  We  pray  Thee,  oh  God, 
that  Thou  wilt  teach  us  how  to  administer  our  stewardship  as  we 
go  back  to  our  home  churches  with  the  new  vision  that  has  come 
to  us,  and  with  new  opportunities  that  have  come  before  us.  We 
pray  Thee  that  in  the  light  of  this  new  vision  that  Thou  wilt 


262  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILKE    CONVENTION. 

teach  ns  how  we  shall  use  our  time  and  how'  we  shall  use  our 
talents  which  Thou  art  entrusting  to  us.  Teach  us,  dear  Lord, 
that  the  sweetest  thing  in  all  the  world  is  just  to  do  Thy  will. 
Reveal  Thy  will  unto  us  with  regard  to  our  church  work  and 
with  regard  to  the  latent  power  in  our  Sabbath  schools  and  our 
Young  People's  Societies ;  reveal  Thy  will  unto  us  and  help  us 
to  know  what  our  duty  is  and  our  privilege  and  our  possibilities 
in  regard  to  them  are.  And  day  by  day  and  hour  by  hour  as  w^e 
endeavor  to  do  Thy  will,  we  pray  Thee,  oh  Lord,  that  Thou  wilt 
give  to  us  Thy  peace,  the  peace  which  passeth  understanding,  and 
that  power  and  that  joy  divine  that  shall  compass  our  hearts  and 
minds,  through  Jesus  Christ,  in  Whose  Name  we  ask  it.    Amen. 


THURSDAY  EVENING. 

The     Snpernatural     Factor     in     Missions:       Rev.     Arthur     T. 
Pierson,  D.D. 

Farewell  Words:    Rev.  R.  M.  Russell,  D.D. 


TUK  SUPERXATl'RAL  FACTOR  IX  MISSIOXS. 

TITK    RF.W     ARTIIL'R    'l\     I'll-.KSOX,    L).    1). 

Beloved  Friends: 

The  center  of  tlie  whole  Christian  system  is  tlie  supernatural : 
Without  it  we  have  no  Christianity. 

Even  thoughtful  disciples  do  not  always  understand  the  gravity 
of  the  present  situation,  when  the  supernatural  element  in  the 
Christian  faith  is  assaulted  from  all  sides,  with  persistent  and  des- 
perate violence.  The  student  of  history  will  find  no  e])och,  in  the 
annals  of  the  Church,  when  there  has  heen  so  coml)ined  rui  alt;ick 
upon  the  supernatural,  and  when  so  many  of  those  engaged  in  the 
assault  have  been  professed  disciples  and  friends  of  Christ. 

If  there  be  no  supernatural  element  in  the  Bible,  it  is  not  an  in- 
spired book;  if  there  be  no  supernatural  element  in  Jesus  Christ, 
He  is  not  a  Divine  Saviour  ;  if  there  be  none  in  conversion,  then-  is 
no  such  thing  as  regeneration  ;  if  there  be  no  supernatural  element 
in  naturg,.  there  is  no  God.  So,  he  who  starts  by  denying  the 
supernatural,  is  logically  compelled  to  give  up  the  Bible,  to  give  up 
the  Christ,  to  give  up  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  logically  lands  in 
atheism. 

Some  years  ago,  a  party  of  five  were  mounting  one  of  the 
heights  of  the  Alps.  He  that  was  lowest  (k)wn  slipi^ed  and  the 
rope  to  which  they  were  all  attached  pulled  the  man  al)ove  him  also 
from  his  foothold  ;  and  these  two  dislodged  the  third  from  his 
standing  place,  and  the  combined  weight  of  these  three  made  the 
fourth  unable  to  retain  his  position.  Hap]jily  the  guide  above,  feel- 
ing the  increasing  strain  upon  the  rojic,  drove  his  alpenstock  and 
axe  into  the  ice  and  firmly  braced  himself,  holding  on  with  all  his 
might.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  help  the  man  just  Ijelow  him  to 
recover  himself;  and  so,  one  by  one,  they  were  all  saved, — because 
the  man  at  the  top  held  his  place. 

The  tendencies  of  our  day  are  so  strongly  toward  unbelief  and 
disbelief,  that  we  may  feel  sometimes  as  if  our  confidence  in  the 
inspired  Word  of  God  were  slipping  away  from  us,  and  our  faith 
in  Christ, as  a  Divine  Saviour,  were  being  disturl)ed,  and  our  as.sur- 
ance  of  the  supernatural  work  of  the   Spirit  in   cr)nversion   and 

•J  55 


25G  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

sanctification,  becoming;  beclouded,  and  perhaps,  that  we  are  in 
danger  ahnost  of  falHng  into  atheism ;  but,  if  our  faith  in  the 
supernatural  still  holds,  we  can  be  recovered  from  all  these  risks 
of  skepticism  in  other  directions  ;  but  when  that  faith  in  the  super- 
natural is  gone,  all  is  lost ! 

God  means  therefore  that  there  shall  be  a  perpetual  challenge 
to  faith  in  a  Power,  greater  than  nature,  and  higher  than  man. 
He  knows  how  dull  our  vision  is,  and  that  we  are  in  a  w^orld  of  sin 
and  sorrow,  with  obscured  faculties,  half  paralysed  affections,  and 
a  wall,  crippled  by  habits  of  iniquity.  He  knows  how  dim  and  dis- 
tant spiritual  and  eternal  things  seem ;  and,  in  compassion  for  us, 
He  has  given  us  at  least  one  unceasing  demonstration  of  the  mirac- 
ulous, and  that  is  flic  work  of  missions,  at  home  and  abroad.  Hav- 
ing been  providentially  led  into  the  study,  especially  of  foreign 
missions,  for  over  forty  years,  I  feel  as  though  I  had  been  walking 
along  a  kind  of  Milky  Way — a  path  of  Light  where  God  has  gone 
before  and  left  His  golden  footsteps  behind  Him.  In  this  system- 
atic and  extensive  search  into  missionary  biography  and  history,  T 
have  felt  surrounded  consciously  with  evidences  of  supernatural 
working  which  are  encountered  all  along  the  whole  of  this  length- 
ened course  of  missionary  effort.  It  was  this  conviction  of  the 
supernatural  factor  that  led  to  the  writing  of  volumes  on  "The 
Miracles  of  Missions  ;"  no  other  term  seemed  to  answer  the  pur- 
pose, to  express  the  profound  conviction  that  there  are  as  truly 
miracles  in  the  spiritual  sphere  in  the  history  of  modern  missions 
as  there  were  miracles  in  the  physical  sphere  in  the  days  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Not  only  so,  but  reverently  it  may  be  affirmed 
that  these  spiritual  miracles  accomplished  in  missionary  history 
have  been  greater  than  any  miracles  in  the  merely  physical  sphere, 
wrought  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Hiniself  in  the  days  of  His 
])ilgrimage  on  earili. 

i'erhaps  this  may  hint  wliat  lie  meant  when,  as  recorded  in  the 
14th  chapter  of  John,  He  said,  ''Greater  works  than  these  shall  ye 
do,  because  T  go  unto  my  l-atlier."'  It  was  a  great  thing  to  make 
the  blind  see,  the  deaf  hear,  tlie  lepers  to  be  cleansed  and  the 
(lead  to  l)e  raised  up.  Is  it  not  as  great,  is  it  not  greater,  to  have 
a  man's  mind,  dark  1)\  nature,  ilhnnined  by  the  mind  of  God?  To 
have  an  obstinate  will  he  nken  for  God's  voice,  to  have  one,  dead 
in  trespasses  and  in  sins,  become  capable  of  a  holy  walk  with  God 
and  intimate  and  constant  re.'^ponse  to  the  sensibilities  of  the 
divine  nature;  and  to  h:i\e  the  moral  guilt  and  leprousy  or  sin 
cleansed  instantaneously,  and  new  i)ower  be  given  to  subdue  all 


'tiiic  supernatural  factor  in  missions.  257 

the  habits  that  have  been  confirmed  by  long  continuance  in  sin? 

God  Himself  tells  us  that  this  is  to  be  His  perpetual  challenge, 
not  only  to  the  Church,  but  to  the  world,  that  He  is  the  miracle 
working  God.  In  the  55th  chapter  of  the  Prophecy  of  Isaiah,  He 
tells  us  that  His  thoughts  are  not  as  our  thoughts,  and  our  ways 
not  as  His  ways,  "For  as  the  rain  cometh  down  and  the  snow  from 
heaven,  and  returneth  not  thither  until  it  has  watered  the  earth  and 
maketh  it  bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may  give  seed  to  the  sower 
and  bread  to  the  eater,  so  shall  My  word  be,  that  goeth  forth  out 
of  My  mouth ;  it  shall  not  return  unto  Me  void,  but  it  shall  accom- 
plish that  which  I  please,  and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  where- 
unto  I  sent  it." 

Then  follow  these  remarkable  words:  "Instead  of  the  thorn 
shall  come  up  the  fir  tree,  and  instead  of  the  briar  shall  come  up 
the  myrtle  tree,  and  it  sliall  be  to  the  Lord  for  a  name  (that  is  a 
world-wide  fame  or  reputation)  ;  for  an  everlasting  sign  that  shall 
not  be  cut  off." 

What  does  this  mean?  God  promised  to  send  forth  His  word 
with  such  mighty  power  that,  where  noxious  and  offensive 
growths  were  found  in  the  individual  soul,  and  in  the  soil  of 
society,  there  shall  come  up  plants  of  godliness ;  that  the  spiritual 
character  and  conduct  of  the  believer  and  the  community  shall  be 
so  transformed  that  this  moral  and  spiritual  transformation  shall 
be  to  the  Lord  for  a  world-wide  name  and  fame;  so  that,  while 
other  signs  may  fail,  this  shall  be  His  "everlasting  sign"  that  shall 
never  fail — shall  never  be  cut  off.  In  other  words,  God  tells  us  that 
we  shall  always  live  in  the  region  and  realm  of  miracles,  if  we  are 
doing  true  mission  work.  If  we  go  forth  with  His  word  in 
dependence  on  His  spirit,  we  shall  see  miraculous  transforma- 
tions both  of  individuals  and  even  of  whole  communities ;  we  shall 
witness  displacement  of  sin,  of  error  in  doctrine  and  iniquity  in 
practice,  such  as  can  be  traced  to  no  fountain  head  but  divine  and 
creative  power,  for  only  He  who  created  can  recreate,  only  He 
who  made  can  so  marvelously  make  over  again. 

Notice  also  what  our  Lord  said  at  the  close  of  the  Gospel  accord- 
ing to  Matthew,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  make  disciples  of  all 
nations,"  or  as  Mark  gives  it,  "Preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature,"  "and  lo ;  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
age."  By  the  way,"Lo  ;  I  am  with  you"  is  a  great  Jehovah  promise, 
found  more  than  fifty  times  in  the  old  and  new  testaments.  "I  am 
with  you,"  was  what  Jehovah  said  at  every  crisis  in  the  history  of 
his  believing  people.  There  is  only  one  case,  however,  and  that  is  in 


258  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

this  28th  of  r^Iatthow,  where  the  order  of  the  words  in  the  orii;-inal 
is  changed.  In  this  case,  Hterally,  it  is,  "Lo ;  I  zvitli  yoit  am."  Our 
Lord  separates  the  personal  pronoun,  "I,"  from  its  verb,  "am." 
with  which  it  is  intimately  and  necessarily  associated,  to  let  in  the 
believer  hetn'ccn,  as  though  he  were  literally  stretching  His  ever- 
lasting arms  around  His  witnessing  disciples  and  His  witnessing 
Church. 

Christ  then  promises  to  be  with  us  in  some  marvelous  way.  His 
whole  three  and  a  half  years'  contact,  converse  and  communion 
with  disciples  had  already  been  filled  with  incessant,  miraculous 
work.  He  says,  as  He  is  about  to  leave  them  for  the  hiding  place 
within  the  vail,  "go  ye,  and  preach  the  Gospel  in  all  the  world,  to 
every  creature,  and  there  will  not  be  a  day  when  I  will  not  con- 
tinue with  you."  The  invisible  Captain  of  the  Lord's  host  who 
appeared  to  Joshua  before  Jericho  and  took  the  entire  charge  of 
the  siege  of  that  great  initial  stronghold  of  Canaan,  to  whom 
Joshua  gave  up  the  command  of  the  hosts  and  whose  direction  he 
implicitly  complied  with,  as  a  subordinate  officer — that  same  Per- 
son still  is  the  invisible  Captain  of  the  Lord's  host,  and  whenever 
missionaries  of  the  Cross  go  out  in  His  name  to  proclaim  His 
Gospel,  in  dependence  upon  His  promise.  He  is  as  absolutely  with 
them  as  He  ever  was  with  the  disciples  in  the  days  of  His  flesh. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  eighth  verse, 
is  another  presentation  of  this  same  truth  which  I  seek  earnestly 
and  emphatically  to  impress.  "Ye  shall  receive  power  after  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  lias  come  upon  you ;"  or,  as  translated  in  the 
margin,  "The  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  coming  upon  you."  Here 
is  a  third  imtimation,  or  declaration  of  an  era  of  miraculous  power 
that  is  to  attend  the  witnessing  Church.  God  in  Isaiah  declares 
His  everlasting  sign  to  be  these  moral  transformations  in  society. 
Christ  promises  His  disciples  that  He  will  be  perpetually  witji 
them,  in  invisible  but  omnipotent  presence,  when  they  g6  forth  to 
tell  the  good  news  of  redemption.  And  now  He  bids  them  tarry 
in  Jerusalem  for  tliat  new  manifestation  of  spiritual  power,  found 
not  so  much  in  God  the  Father's  supernatural  intervention,  or  God 
the  Son's  conduct  of  the  campaign,  as  in  the  inward  witness,  and 
the  external  and  manifested  working,  of  the  Spirit  of  (iod  in  con- 
nection with  testimony,  borne  by  the  disciples. 

Within  those  three  statements  lies  the  i)]iilosophy  of  the  wliole 
subject.  People  sometimes  say,  that  they  wish  they  had  lived 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago  and  been  witnesses  to  Christ's 
miracles;  and  that  they  would  have  no  hesitation  in  l)elieving  in 


THE  SUPKKXATUKAI,  tWCTOR  IN  MlSSfONS.  259" 

Him  if  they  could  have  seen  His  miracles.  1  reply,  "Come 
with  me,  and  I  will  show  you  modern  miracles  by  the  hundreds. 
You  need  not  go  hack  eighteen  centuries  for  supernatural  testi- 
mony. Be  as  diligent  to  read  the  history  of  missions  as  to  read 
the  morning  newspaper,  or  the  latest  novel,  and  you  will  find  vour- 
self  walking  in  the  realm  of  miraculous  manifestation." 

Taking  the  missions  of  the  last  century,  there  are  at  least 
twenty  or  thirty  remarkable  manifestations  that  might  almost  be 
selected  at  random  from  the  history  of  missionary  labor,  all  of 
which  most  marvelously  disclose  the  supernatural  power  of  God. 

We  may  begin  at  the  Sunrise  Kingdom,  Japan.  Read  the  story 
of  Joseph  Neesima  and  his  remarkable  conversion ;  how  he 
picked  up  in  the  library  of  a  Japanese  friend  a  sort  of  abridge- 
ment of  the  Bible,  in  Chinese,  written  by  some  An.icri- 
can,  and  found  in  the  opening  words  "In  the  beginning  Cod 
created  the  heavens  and  the  earth/' — more  wisdom  than  he  had 
found  in  all  the  Buddhistic  and  sacred  books  of  heathendom. 
From  that  time  he  could  never  be  content  till  he  had  both  read  and 
followed  this  sacred  book.  Drs.  James  C.  Hepburn  and  Guido  F. 
Verbeck  were  remarkably  introduced  by  God  into  that  land  at  the 
exact  time  when  needed  to  mould  the  history  of  the  New  Japan, 
Dr.  \^erbeck  was  a  Hollander  by  birth,  an  American  by  training, 
but  a  citizen  of  no  country,  and  therefore  able  to  enter  fully  into, 
and  identify  himself  with,  Japanese  affairs,  becoming  the  trusted 
counselor  of  the  government,  and  intimately  shaping  govern- 
mental policy ;  getting  also  great  power  over  the  young  men  of 
the  Island  Empire,  so  that,  when  that  exodus  took  place  of  young 
Japanese  who  came  to  Philadelphia,  New  Brunswick,  and  New 
York,  and  other  great  cities,  to  train  themselves  for  governmental 
positions.  Dr.  \'erbeck  was  the  man  that  shaped  the  course  of 
that  exodus,  not  only  toward  high  intelligence  in  education,  but  to- 
ward the  impressing  upon  them  of  the  Christian  religion.  Aly  own 
daughter,  who  has  been  a  missionary  in  Japan  for  sixteen  years, 
had  some  little  part  in  training  some  of  those  young  men  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  English  language ;  and  some  of  the  young  men 
sent  by  Verbeck  to  these  shores  have  since  risen  to  high  positions 
in  that  great  Sunrise  Land. 

Never,  perhaps,  in  the  whole  history  of  missions  were  there  two 
men  more  singularly  prepared  beforehand  and  at  the  exact  crisis 
put  into  the  exact  place  which  God  had  prepared  for  them  and 
for  which  He  had  prepared  them,  than  when  Flepburn  and 
Verbeck  went  to  Japan.    And  when  Dr.  Hepburn  stood  before  a. 


260  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

Japanese  audience  and  presented  those  five  massive  and  superb 
volumes  representing  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  Japanese 
language  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  occasions  the  history  of  the 
world  has  ever  known. 

Passing  over  to  the  Island  of  Formosa,  we  see  the  late  George 
L.  McKay,  struggling  with  the  ignorance,  superstition  and  opposi- 
tion of  those  native  Formosans,  and  building  up  a  strong  native 
church,  with  a  college  of  native  students ;  and,  before  his  death, 
seeing  a  large  part  of  the  Island  of  Formosa  covered  with 
Christian  churches,  schools  and  congregations  of  believers,  and 
here  is  another  demonstration  of  God's  modern  miracle  working. 

In  Burmah  let  us  follow  the  career  of  Adoniram  Judson.  The 
first  Burmese  convert  was  won  in  1819 ;  then  in  1875,  there  was  the 
opening  of  the  Kho  Thah  Byu  Memorial  Hall,  the  cost  of  which 
was  contributed  by  thirty-five  thousand  saved  Karens,  then  living, 
and  in  memory  of  the  first  Karen  convert,  in  1825,  and  of  as  large 
a  number  of  converts  that  were  dead,  all  of  whom  were  God's 
planting  in  that  heathen  soil.  This  memorial  hall,  built  of  con- 
verts' money,  stood  on  one  height,  confronting  the  Schway  Mote 
Tau  Pagoda,  on  another,  the  temple  of  the  ancient  and  abandoned 
superstitions  contrasting  with  the  memorial  of  their  present  alle- 
giance to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Go  over  into  India  and  visit  the  remarkable  work  begun  in  your 
own  behalf  by  Andrew  W.  Gordon,  and  his  compeers,  in  the  dis- 
trict of  Punjab.  Then  visit  the  Telugus,  see  the  heroic  field  of 
Lyman  Jewett  and  John  E.  Clough,  so  marvelously  blessed  by 
God.  In  1853,  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  were 
about  to  give  up  the  work  of  the  "Lone  Star"  Mission,  because 
for  so  many  years  it  had  been  entirely  unproductive,  and  it  was 
Samuel  Smith,  the  sacred  poet,  that  on  that  occasion  wrote  his 
verses : 

".Sliinc  on  Lone  Star — tliy  radiance  Ijrijxlit 
Shall  yet  illumine  the  western  sky; 
Sliinc  on,  Lone  Star — the  time  shall  conic 
When  mine  shall  shine  so  fair  as  thou." 

Lyman  Jewett  said,  "I  am  going  back  to  that  work  if  I  only 
go  to  die."  John  E.  Clough  in  1869  offered  himself,  though  only  a 
civil  engineer.  The  Board  felt  that  they  had  no  occasion  for  a 
civil  engineer,  but  wanted  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  "Well,"  he 
said.  "1  am  going  U)  India;  if  }-ou  don't  send  me,  1  will  get  soine- 
body  else;  if  I  can't  get  anybody  to  send  me.  I  will  go  on  my  own 
responsibility/'     And  the   Missionary  Lhiion   said,  "Here   is  one 


the;  supernatural  factor  nx  missions.  2<J1 

man  bound  to  go  if  only  to  die,  and  we  must  send  somebody  to 
bury  him.  Here  is  another  who  is  going  whether  or  not  any  one 
will  send  him.  Let  us  send  them  both  and  see  what  will  come 
of  it." 

There  liad  been  a  little  prayer  meeting  of  five  people  on  the 
height  overlooking  Ongole  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1854,  when 
they  consecrated  that  whole  district  to  God,  and  besought  Him  to 
do  some  wonderful  work  of  spiritual  transformation  in  that  spot. 
In  the  great  famine  of  1877,  although  the  Missionary  Union  had 
no  use  for  a  civil  engineer,  God  had.  Dr.  Clough,  the  civil  en- 
gineer, was  employed  by  the  British  government  in  India  to  com- 
plete the  "Buckingham  Canal."  In  this  work  he  employed  thou- 
sands of  these  starving  people  and  they  got  wages,  and  with 
Avages,  food.  When  these  native  workmen  rested,  at  the  close 
of  the  day,  he  yearned  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  them,  but  he  knew 
no  Telugu,  and  so  he  determined  to  learn  and  repeat  to  them 
texts,  though  he  dared  not  trust  himself  even  to  explain  them. 
He  began  the  first  day  with  John  iii,  16,  repeated  in 
Telugu  and  the  next  day  he  could  repeat  more  texts,  and  so  he 
went  on,  until  by  and  by,  he  could  recite  Scripture  in  their  own 
tongue  for  half  an  hour,  while  as  yet  he  could  not  add  a  word  in 
comment.  And,  out  of  such  repetition  of  the  pure  Word  of  God, 
camelhe  baptism  of  four  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-four 
in  one  day,  and  within  eleven  months,  of  ten  thousand  ;  so  that  the 
largest  church  in  the  world  today  is  not  in  Philadelphia,  or  New 
York  or  London,  but  among  these  Telugus.  In  that  church  of 
Ongole  have  been  gathered  fifty  thousand  members ;  the  reward  of 
the  prayers,  the  preaching,  the  faith  and  the  patience  of  a  few 
godly  souls. 

In  Tinnevelly,  where  the  Church  Missionary  Society  has  done 
such  grand  work,  whole  villages  have  been  brought  to  Christ. 
On  one  occasion  the  people  of  a  village  met  to  decide  whether  to 
embrace  the  Christian  religion,  and  the  head  man  gave  consent 
provided  they  were  all  agreed.  They  all  did  agree,  and  gave  up 
the  idol  temple  to  be  used  as  a  Christian  Church,  and  now  the 
stepping  stone  on  which  they  enter  is  the  old  stone  idol,  worshipped 
for  centuries,  laid  with  face  downward.  On  the  very  back  of  the 
prostrate  idol  they  go  up  into  the  House  of  Prayer ! 

In  France,  what  work  Robert  W.  McAll  began  immediately 
after  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  in  1872 !  I  have  stood  witli  uncov- 
ered head  and  with  awe  on  the  very  corner  in  Belleville,  near  that 
wineshop,  where  Mrs.  McAll  was  distributing  French  tracts  while 


•262  FOREIGN   MISSIONARY   JUBILEE    CONVENTION. 

lier  husband  was  handing  them  to  passers-by  on  the  street,  when 
an  intelHgent  workingman  speaking  EngHsh  said  to  Dr.  McAll, 
"you  are  a  stranger,  but  if  you  will  come  here  and  teach  us  a 
Gospel  without  priests  and  penance  and  purgatory,  many  of  us 
would  like  to  hear."  Nobody  knows  to  this  day  but  the  Almighty 
and  the  man  himself  who  this  was.  But  McAll  couldn't  get 
that  voice  out  of  his  ears,  and  he  left  England  and  went  to 
I'clleville,  hired  a  little  room  and  put  into  it  a  few  pine  chairs,  a 
table,  and  a  parlor  organ,  and  began  his  great  career  in  France 
with  two  sentences — all  he  could  speak  in  French — "God  loves 
you,"  "I  love  you;"  and,  upon  those  two  sentences  as  on  the 
j)illars  of  an  arch,  he  built  the  greatest  work  yet  done  in  Papal 
lands.  I  myself  visited  the  salles  in  Paris,  and  the  provinces, 
speaking  to  crowded  assemblages  of  Frenchmen.  There  were 
then  130  of  these  salles,  open  every  night  with  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  people  listening  to  the  glad  tidings. 

In  Africa,  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  has  seen  a  great 
work.  I  fear  many,  even  of  the  denomination,  know  little  about 
it,  but  it  has  had  a  wonderful  history.  Nothing  perhaps  in  the 
century  of  modern  missions,  for  conservative  views  and  methods, 
teaching,  preaching  and  patiently  w^aiting  and  enduring  for  Christ, 
surpasses  the  work  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
Nile  Valley. 

In  .Sierra  Leone,  Regents  Town  was  originally  called  '"Hog- 
brook,"  because  of  the  literal  hogs  there,  but  the  human  population 
were  once  little  above  the  level  of  swine.  England  purchased 
the  district  early  in  the  last  century,  as  a  dumping  ground  for  the 
refuse  negroes  taken  from  slave  ships.  The  Church  Missionary 
Society  needed  somebody  to  go  there.  William  A.  B.  Johnson,  a 
half-educated  Moravian  offered,  but  was  \yarned  that  it  was  the 
worst  place  in  the  world.  He  said,  "That  is  exactly  where  I  want 
to  go,  where  nobody  else  will."  He  found  there  representatives 
of  twenty  or  thirty  tribes  of  Africans,  of  the  worst  character,  hud- 
dled together  not  knowing  each  other's  language,  and  using 
"pigeon  English,"  as  a  medium  of  communication;  living  in  licen- 
tiousness, immorality  and  indecency,  keeping  a  carnival  of  lust  and 
crime.  He  said,  "What  can  I  do  in  this  place?"  But  he  remem- 
bered God's  everlasting  sign,  and  the  presence  of  the  Son  of  God, 
l)romised  to  those  that  go  forth  in  liis  name,  and  the  power  of  the 
I  loly  Spirit  conferred  at  Pentecost,  and  he  resolved  to  depend  on 
two  things, — praying  and  preaching.  In  less  than  eighteen  months, 
sitting  on  liis  ])iazza  he  could  hear  groups  in  the  trees  about  him. 


TllK  SUl'KRXATUKAI,  1".\CT()R  IX  MISSIONS.  263 

praying  for  salvation,  or  praising'  (Sod  for  the  Saviour  tlicv  liad 
found.  He  lived  only  seven  years,  and  died  in  1823.  bis  tves 
beinti'  closed  by  the  first  convert  from  her  tribe.  I  hit  he  left  a 
thoroughly  transformed  community — a  church  ])uilt  by  these  na- 
tives, that  accommodated  two  thousand,  and  v.as  full.  Their 
children  were  gathered  in  schools,  and  their  heathen  revels  had 
ceased.  When  they  could  go  to  church  only  through  swollen 
rivers,  they  would  take  ofT  their  garments,  tie  them  on  their  heads 
and  swim  across,  and  then  put  them  on  again,  and  so  reach  the 
meeting.  They  had  their  own  missionary  society  and  they  sent 
their  gifts  when  they  couldn't  come  themselves! 

Daniel  Lindley  was  one  of  the  great  heroes  of  the  Zulu  land, 
'  I  knew  him  well  and  heard  him  tell  how  the  Gospel  elevated  the 
Zulu.  He  said,  "The  first  indication  that  a  man  is  turning  from 
darkness  to  light  is  that  he  comes,  in  his  nakedness,  to  the  mis- 
sionary premises  and  barters  something  for  a  common  duck  shirt ; 
then  the  next  day  something  else  for  a  duck  pair  of  pants ;  then 
he  cannot  sit  on  the  ground  any  more,  lest  he  should  soil  his 
pants,  so  he  comes  again  for  a  little  three-legged  stool.  And,  said 
Lindley,  "When  that  man  gets  into  that  duck  shirt  and  duck  pants, 
and  sits  on  that  stool,  twelve  inches  high,  he  is  about  twelve 
miles  above  the  people  around  him." 

Nothing  in  history  of  missions  surpasses  the  story  of  Uganda 
in  the  proofs  of  the  wonderful  interposition  of  God.  On  the  15th 
of  November,  1875,  that  letter  of  Henry  M.  Stanley  appeared  in 
the  London  Daily  Telegraph,  telling  of  the  eagerness  of  Knig 
Mtesa  to  read  the  Word  of  God,  and  to  welcome  Christian 
teachers,  and  appealing  to  the  British  public  to  send  missionaries 
and  teachers  to  Uganda.  Within  two  weeks,  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  had  ten  thousand  pounds,  and  determined  to  take 
up  this  mission,  and  shortly  dispatched  their  first  band  of  nu's- 
sionaries.  It  was  on  the  w^ay  to  LTganda  that  Hannington  was 
shot  and  sent  word  to  the  King  that  he  had  bought  the  road  to 
Uganda  with  his  blood.  Alexander  McKay  and  that  other  mar- 
velous man,  George  L.  Pilkington,  followed,  translating  the  Word 
of  God  into  the  language  of  the  people.  Soon  there  came  a 
persecution,  and  seven  pages  of  the  coin-t  were  burned,  and  sang 
on  the  way  to  execution,  and  some  declared  even  in  the  fire,  praises 
to  Jesus.  Now,  in  Uganda,  fifty  thousand  people  gather  in  the 
synagogi  or  reading  houses,  poring  over  the  Word  of  God. 
There  has  been  nothing  like  tli.is  in  missionary  history.  The  Word 
of  God  has  so  become  the  center  of  attraction  and  attention,  that 


264  FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    JUBILEK    CONVENTION. 

the  people  themselves  have  put  np  these  reading  houses  so  that 
they  might,  under  competent  teachers,  read  and  study  this  in- 
spired book.  And  so  rapid  has  been  the  progress  of  God's  work, 
that  the  missionaries  in  India  sent  word  to  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  two  years  ago,  "If  you  can  spare  any  men,  for  God's  sake 
send  them  to  Uganda  rather  than  India,  for  the  present  crisis  there 
demands  that  they  be  sent  to  that  field." 

Again  the  story  of  Madagascar  is  an  example  of  miracles.  In 
1828,  when  Ranavalona  I.  ascended  the  throne,  she  signalized  the 
event  by  the  murder  of  all  the  King's  relatives  and  chief  sup- 
porters. She  waged  warfare  for  twenty-five  long  years  against 
the  Christian  Church.  She  had  converts  beheaded,  flung  from 
precipices,  put  in  boiling  oil.  No  atrocities  of  Nero  surpassed  those 
of  Ranavalona  I.  Yet,  when  in  1868,  seven  years  after  her  death, 
Ranavalona  II  was  crowned,  on  the  table  before  her  lay  a  copy 
of  the  Word  of  God,  which  she  declared  should  "By  the  Grace 
of  God  be  the  basis  of  her  empire  in  Madagascar."  When  the 
missionaries  returned,  it  was  found  that  the  native  church,  so  far 
from  being  destroyed  through  twenty-five  years  of  persecution, 
was  tenfold  larger  than  when  the  persecution  began. 

As  to  the  Inji  Islands,  if  you  had  been  wrecked  there  eighty 
years  ago,  you  would  have  been  roasted  and  eaten  by  those  canni- 
bals, but  today  you  would  be  as  tenderly  received  and  as  hospitably 
entertained  as  even  by  the  United  Presbyterians  of  Pittsburgh. 
Thirteen  hundred  spires  rising  on  that  island  group  point  white 
fingers  towards  heaven.  Many  of  them  are  erected  on  the  sites 
of  cannibal  ovens. 

Have  you  read  the  story  of  Hilo  and  Puna,  and  the  labors  of 
Titus  Coan  ?  He  had  a  parish  over  one  hundred  miles  long,  and' 
he  began  to  preach  the  Gospel  and  visit  the  people,  calling  at 
their  huts  and  talking  to  them  individually  about  the  things  of 
God  ;  and  withal  he  gave  himself  to  earnest  supplication.  God 
poured  out  His  Spirit.  Mr.  Coan  couldn't  go  to  them,  they  were 
so  scattered,  and  when  he  saw  them  mightily  moved  upon,  he  said, 
"You  must  come  to  me."  They  came,  seven  thousand  strong,  and 
put  up  their  tents  in  the  neighborhood,  bringing  with  them  their 
basket  work  and  materials  for  cooking  food,  and  there  was  a 
three  years'  camp  meeting.  At  any  time,  day  or  night,  if  the 
signal  sounded,  the  building,  holding  four  thousand  people,  v.'as. 
packed,  so  densely,  that  those  who  fainted  had  to  be  carried  to  the 
doors  over  the  heads  of  others.  When  Titus  Coan  stood  there  and 
preached  the  terrors  of  the  law  and  the  grace  of  the  Gospel,  the 


THE  SUPERNATURAL  FACTOR  IX  MISSIONS.  265 

groaning  and  sobbing  became  so  loiul  as  to  drown  his  voice,  and 
he  had  to  stop  in  silence  to  see  how  niarvelously  dod  was  work- 
ing. In  one  day  he  baptized  seventeen  hnnch-ed  candidates  after 
careful  examination,  and  the  whole  district  was  planted  with 
Christian  homes. 

God  wrought  miracles  through  William  Duncan  at  Metla- 
kahatla.  Those  Tshimshean  Indians  were  cannibals,  ferocious, 
and  violent,  when  he  went  among  them.  But  he  first  became 
acquainted  with  their  language  inside  of  Fort  Simpson  from 
Clah,  a  native,  and  then  he  sent  word  through  him  that  he  was 
coming  to  preach  and  teach  the  Gospel  to  them.  He  went,  putting 
his  life  in  the  hands  of  God.  They  were  so  quarrelsome  that,  when 
he  wrote  his  first  sermon  in  the  language  he  didn't  dare  ask  them 
to  come  together  in  one  assembly  for  fear  of  riot  and  bloodshed^ 
but  delivered  that  same  sermon  nine  times  in  one  day  before  the 
different  tribes  gathered  in  their  respective  wigwams.  Then  he 
planted  schools  and  developed  a  model  state,  a  thoroughly 
Christian  community  in  every  respect. 

Many  other  instances  of  missionary  success  might  be  cited, 
as  inspiring  and  convincing  as  these,  all  of  which  demonstrate  that 
God's  everlasting  sign  has  not  been  cut  off,  that  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  with  His  witnessing  Church,  and  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
works  in  powxr  in  answer  to  believing  prayer. 

But  I  have  another  and  more  important  message.  I  have  been 
present  at  many  anniversaries,  some  jubilee  occasions,  and  more 
than  one  ecumenical  council,  but  have  never  been  at  a  series  of 
meetings  where  the  addresses,  on  the  whole,  maintained  a  higher 
average  or  where  there  has  been  such  avoidance  of  crowding  the 
program  so  that  speakers  could  do  justice  to  their  Master  and 
their  theme,  and  I  praise  God  for  this  experience  among  you 
during  these  days.  But  my  heart  yearns  on  this  memorable 
occasion,  to  leave  with  you  a  testimony  that  I  should  not  be 
ashamed  to  have  as  my  last  word  of  witness,  if  it  should  so  please 
God.  Let  me  add  a  few  words  as  the  questiim  iKnc,  in  the  work 
of  your  church,  the  supernatural  poivcr  of  God  may  be  demon- 
strated to  a  far  larger  degree.  This  is  after  all  the  crowning  and 
all  important  issue  of  this  great  occasion. 

The  mystery  of  the  Trinity  has  a  marked  relation  to  the  work 
of  missions. 

There  is  something  striking  in  the  way  in  which  the  Bible  pres- 
ents our  relation  to  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Spirit.  The  Old 
Testament  is  full  of  the  Father,  but  little  is  said  of  the  Son,  or  of 


266  FOREIGN   MISSIONARY  JUBILEE  CONVENTION. 

the  Spirit.  The  Gospel  narratives  are  fuh  of  the  Son,  while  com- 
paratively less  reference  is  made  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Spirit. 
The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  however,  are  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He 
is  the  dominant  as  well  as  prominent  personality  from  the  first 
chapter  to  last.  This  book  is  in  fact  the  Acts  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
as  the  presiding  Presence  in  the  Church,  as  when  Peter  says  to 
Ananias  and  Sapphira.  "You  have  lied  unto  the  Holy  Ghost," 
losing-  sig-ht  of  himself  as  the  presiding  Spirit. 
•  •  Moreover,  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  Father  is  specially  pre- 
sented as  the  object  of  faith:  "Abram  believed  in  God  and  he 
was  called  the  friend  of  God."  In  the  New  Testament  Christ  is 
continually  before  the  believer  not  only  as. atoning  Saviour,  but  as 
our  pattern,  that  we  should  follow  in  His  steps,  surrendering  to 
Him  in  obedience  as  Saviour  and  Lord.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles the  Holy  Spirit  is  presented  as  The  Power,  the  source  of  all 
unction,  energy  and  victory  in  holy  living  and  holy  witnessing. 

Now,  think  of  these  relationships  which  the.  Triune  God  thus 
bears  to  your  life  and  work,  and  the  life  and  work,  and  especially 
the  mission  work,  of  the  Church.  While  no  sharp  lines  of  demark" 
ation  mark  off  the  individuality  of  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son 
and  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  yet  God  the  Father  is  held  up  as  the 
supreme  object  of  faith,  God  the  Son,  the  supreme  object  of  svr. 
render  and  devotion  in  obedience,  and  God  the  Floly  Ghost,  the 
supreme  source  of  spiritual  power  and  unction,  by  which  we  wit- 
ness effectively  for  God. 

Now,  what  relation  has  all  this  to  missions^  We  are  awed  be- 
fore the  absolute  sot'ereij^nfy  of  this  Triune  God.  We  cannot 
command  or  control  God ;  yet  are  we  not  driven  to  fatalism. 
It  is  possible  to  come  into  conditions  where  God  accepts  us  as 
workers  with  him  and  co-operates  with  us.  When  we  depend  upon 
mere  machinery  for  power.  He  laughs  at  our  folly.  If  we  think 
we  are  going  to  secure  llis  presence  and  blessing  because  of  an 
ornate  cathedral  building  erected  to  Him,  or  because  of  an  elab- 
orate and  ornate  ritual,  a  ceremonial,  esthetic  and  artistic;  if  we 
think  that  because  we  have  the  most  comi)lete  organization  that 
our  "Ways  and  Means"  Committee  can  devise,  such  mechanical 
methods  will  control  His  activities  and  enlist  His  sympathies.  He 
holds  us  in  derision.  He  cares  nothing  for  all  these  things  in  them- 
selves. He  will  not  he  controlled  by  machinery,  but  He  tvill  con- 
trol the  maeJiiuery.  if  it  is  put  before  Him  only  to  have  him  inspire 
and  use  il,  animating,  ]H'r\a(ling  it  with  His  presence  and 
power.      In    such    conditions  we  may  have  the  best,  and  cannot 


THE  SUPERNATURAL  FACTOR  IN  MISSIONS.  267 

have  loo  good  a  machine,  but  woe  to  us  if  we  think  tliat  a  fine 
building,  a  trained  choir,  decorous  forms,  and  stately  ceremonies, 
complete  creeds  and  businesslike  methods  can  be  substituted  for 
the  Spirit  of  God.  We  insult  Him  when  we  think  of  putting  any- 
thing in  the  place  of  such  spiritual  power ! 

What  are  we,  then,  to  do?  Simply  to  find  out  God's  plan  and 
drop  info  onr  place  in  if!  To  believe  in  Him,  and  in  such  a  way 
as  to  venture  wholly  upon  Him,  trusting  Him  absolutely,  and 
walking  out  on  the  platform  of  His  promises  without  any  other 
hope  than  His  faithfulness.  We  are  to  go  and  preach  the  Gospel 
to  every  creature,  because  the  Lord  has  fold  us  to  go,  and  not  to 
wait  and  ask  whether  it  pays  —  a  most  irreverent  question ! 
Wliat  have  we  to  do  with  the  question  whether  it  pays !  Of 
course,  anything  pays  if  God  commands  it.  Having  our  marching 
orders,  as  the  Duke  of  Wellington  called  the  Last  Commission, 
we  have  no  alternative.  But  even  obedience  will  be  comparatively 
without  blessing  unless  we  wait  before  God  in  prayer  to  be  "en- 
dued with  pozvcr  from  on  High."  Thus  we  are  to  trust  with 
implicit  confidence  in  God  the  Father,  yield  habitual  obedience  to 
God  the  Son,  and  hang  in  humble  and  absolute  dependence  on  God 
tlv^  Holy  Ghost. 

These  are  the  conditions  and  they  are  perfectly  simple.  Why 
is  it  then  the  church  does  not  enjoy  these  blessings?  One  reason  is 
that  we  get  our  eye  on  one  condition,  but  lose  sight  of  the  others. 
We  see,  for  instance,  that  there  is  a  deficiency  in  faith,  and  we 
seek  to  stimulate  faith,  but  we  .forget  obedience,  and  neglect  to 
tarry  for  spiritual  enduement.  Or,  convinced  that  there  is  a  de- 
ficiency in  obedience,  we  bestir  ourselves  to  be  more  diligent,  going 
into  all  the  world  and  preaching  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  But, 
even  in  such  obedience,  we  may  neglect  the  baptism  of  the  Spirit. 
Or,  sometimes,  feeling  the  lack  of  this,  we  pray  for  the  enduement 
from  on  high,  while  failing  to  trust  implicitly  in  the  promises  of 
an  unchanging  God,  and  diligently  to  plan  for  a  world's  evan- 
gelization, in  obedience  to  the  command  of  Christ. 

There  is  a  threefold  basis  on  which  all  missions  depend :  Giv- 
ing, going  and  praying.  And  it  is  a  curious  coincidence  that 
giving  is  especially  connected  with  faith  in  God  the  Father ;  going 
and  preaching  especially  with  obedience  to  God  the  Son,  and  pray- 
ing especially  linked  with  the  power  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  What 
does  God  say?  'Trove  Me  now,"  and  Fie  tells  us  how  to  put 
Him  to  proof.  "Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse  and 
prove  Me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  if  I  will  not 


268  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  JUBILEE  CONVENTION. 

open  you  the  windows  of  heaven  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing  that 
there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it."  How  are  we  bidden 
to  prove  God  the  Son?  "Go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature,  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  age."  That  assurance  can  never  be  disassociated 
from  the  command.  It  is  only  when  within  obedience  to  the  com- 
mission that  we  can  claim  and  enjoy  the  promised  presence.  No 
less  are  we  taught  that  the  praying  attitude  is  necessary  for  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Christ  bade  His  disciples  tarry  until  they  were  en- 
dued, and  ten  days  of  waiting  in  prayer  were  succeeded  by  the 
Pentecostal  baptism.  Moreover,  he  distinctly  says,  "If  ye,  being 
evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to  your  children,  how  much 
more  shall  your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  tJiciu  that 
ask  him." 

Systematic  giving,  then,  puts  God  to  proof  whether  He  will 
stand  by  us  in  providing  for  the  support  of  missions ;  going  to 
preach  puts  Christ  to  proof  whether  He  will  be  with  us  as  captain 
of  the  Lord's  Host,  and  asking  in  prayer  puts  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
proof  whether  He  will  endue  us  with  the  mysterious  unction  of 
spiritual  power. 

Any  church  that  gets  and  keeps  its  eye  on  all  these  three  con- 
ditions, and  lives  up  to  them,  will  find  the  whole  triune  Godhead 
in  marvelous  co-operation  attending  the  ministry  of  the  Word, 
both  at  home  and  abroad. 

Let  me  close  by  citing  a  few  illustrations  of  this. 

One  man  ranks  above  all  others  in  my  judgment  for  having  met 
all  three  conditions,  venturing  in  faith  on  God,  obeying  Jesus 
Christ  with  full  surrender,  and  endued  by  the  Holy  Ghost  for 
every  service.  That  man  was  George  Miiller,  of  Bristol,  England. 
It  was  permitted  me  to  write  the  life  of  this  remarkable  man,  and 
I  gladly  signalize  your  celebration  by  putting  at  the  disposal  of 
your  foreign  missionary  secretary  a  copy  of  that  life  for  every 
missionary  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church. 

George  Miiller  for  sixty-five  years  carried  on  a  work  demand- 
ing, as  it  expanded,  an  annual  expenditure  of  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  On  principle,  he  never  asked  a 
human  being  for  one  penny,  and  when  it  was  thought  that  his  an- 
nual reports  might  be  construed  as  indirect  appeals,  he  actually 
withheld  them  for  two  years,  lest  he  should  seem  dependent  on  any 
other  than  Almighty  God.  He  would  spend  the  last  penny  at  any 
time  to  supply  an  immediate  need,  trusting  the  Hearer  of  Prayer 
to  supply  other  and  future  wants.     I  asked  him,  just  before  hi? 


THE  SUPERNATURAL  FACTOR  IN   MISSIONS.  lib\) 

death,  "Have  you  ever  failed  of  a  ineal?"  |he  liad  at  one  time 
twenty-two  hundred  orphans  and  helpers  in  those  orphan  houses], 
and  he  said,  "Never."  "Did  you  ever  have  to  postpone  a  meal?" 
"Yes :  twice  in  sixty-five  years,  but  only  for  half  an  hour."  If  you 
or  I  went  to  bed  without  enough  breakfast  in  the  house  for  the 
family,  we  would  sleep  but  little.  lUit  he  went  to  bed  thousands 
of  times  in  his  conduct  of  that  work,  without  enough  food  for 
their  next  meal,  and  slept  calmly,  depending  on  the  "Father  of 
the  fatherless."  His  trust  never  failed,  neither  did  the  God  he 
trusted.  He  would  let  nothing  be  bought  unless  there  was 
mone}-  to  pay  for  it.  One  morning  there  was  not  enough  to  buy 
the  milk  by  eight  pence.  He  sent  around  to  the  different  houses 
and  collected  seven  pence.  It  was  proposed  to  buy  seven  pence 
worth  of  milk.  "No,"  he  answered,  "the  Lord  knows  that  these 
orphans  need  eight  pence  worth,  and  we  shall  buy  what  is  needed. 
Go  to  the  boxes  and  you  will  find  another  penny."  The  boxes 
were  opened  and  one  penny  was  found  and  no  more ! 

On  one  occasion  the  heating  apparatus  had  broken  down  in  one 
of  the  houses  and  there  were  no  other  means  of  warming  it,  but  a 
sharp  November  wind  was  blowing,  and  threatened  the  little  ones 
with  serious  illness,  many  of  whom  had  been  born  of  consumptive 
parents ;  and  it  would  take  four  or  five  days  to  get  the  heating 
apparatus  in  order.  He  simply  went  to  the  Lord  and  said,  "These 
are  not  my  orphans.  They  are  Thine  orphans.  I  have  no  means 
of  warming  and  sheltering  them ;  Lord,  change  the  zvind."  The 
wind  changed  around  to  the  south  and  blew  warm  and  soft,  until 
the  boiler  was  again  in  place  and  fire  was  ready  to  be  lighted,  when 
the  wind  changed  and  blew  again  sharp  from  the  north.  Here 
was  a  man  who  commanded  the  winds  and  clouds  of  heaven  in  the 
name  of  God. 

\Miat  grasp  of  faith,  what  obedience,  what  testimony,  what 
meek  and  quiet  spirit,  what  triumphant  trust  in  Almighty  God. 
He  began  with  a  shilling,  and  all  his  property  at  his  death 
amounted  to  less  than  eight  hundred  dollars,  library,  furniture, 
clothes,  books,  everything.  Yet  that  one  man,  in  the  course  of 
his  life,  had  received  and  disbursed  over  seven  million  dollars  for 
the  Lord's  work ! 

My  friend  Mr.  Torrey  has  been  going  around  the  world  as  an 
evangelist,  and  his  success  has  been  remarkable.  At  this  very  time 
spiritual  power  is  accompanying  and  following  him  everywhere, 
sweeping  like  a  flame  over  great  cities  like  Liverpool  and  Birm- 
ingham and  Cardiff.     In  the  factories  of  Wales  workmen  drop 


270  FOREIGN   MISSIONARY  JUWLEE  CONVENTION. 

their  tools  to  go  to  prayer  meetings,  and  a  single  employer  says 
that  he  has  lost  a  hundred  dollars  a  day  by  his  men  leaving  their 
work  on  account  of  their  spiritual  anxiety.  And  the  whole  of 
Britain  is  stirred  with  Mr.  Torrey's  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 

At  Keswick,  last  summer,  he  spoke  often,  and  was  full  of  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Some  twenty  or  thirty  students  from 
Oxford  who  attended  his  meetings,  received  power  from  on  high 
and  went  back  to  the  old  university  town,  and  now  have  five 
groups  of  prayer  meetings  a  day,  and  one  big  prayer  meeting 
once  a  week,  and  some  of  those  gownsmen  go  out  on  the  streets 
preaching. 

Where  did  this  ministry  of  Mr.  Torrey  get  such  power?  He 
tells  us.  that  in  Chicago,  some  years  ago,  he  and  another  man 
determined  to  meet  weekly  for  prayer  for  the  world-wide  effusion 
of  the  Spirit.  Others  joined  them,  until  the  little  company  became 
twenty-five  or  thirty,  and  even  more.  And  now  there  is  a  con- 
tinuous meeting  in  Chicago  Avenue  Church  from  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  of  Saturday  till  ten,  and  sometimes  even  later,  and 
attended  by  more  than  a  thousand  people.  Mr.  Torrey  one  night 
was  moved  to  ask  that  God  would  send  him  as  an  evangelist 
around  the  world.  A  few  weeks  later  two  gentlemen  appeared  and 
urged  on  him  a  plan  for  such  an  evangelistic  tour.  They  had 
known  nothing  of  his  yearning,  but  they  were  prepared  to  back 
the  invitation  with  the  necessary  money.  He  began  with  Aus- 
tralia, then  went  to  Japan,  China,  India  and  England,  and  he  is 
now  doing  as  great  evangelistic  work  as  any  man  living,  the 
power  of  God  mightily  accompanying  him.  wherever  he  goes.  He 
attributes  it  all  to  tliat  prayer  meeting,  and  his  niotto  is:  "My  soul, 
wait  thou  only  vipon  God.  for  my  expectation  is  from  Him." 

Let  me  make  a  personal  confession.'  In  1875,  while  a  pastor  in 
Detroit,  I  suddenly  woke  up  to  the  conviction  that  I  had  been  for 
years  preaching  the  gospel  of  culture  to  a  rich  and  cultured  con- 
gregation, relying  on  evangelical  truth  and  well  organized  church 
methods;  but,  so  far  as  results  go  in  conversions,  I  was  as  one 
"beating  the  air."  After  speaking  all  day  to  throngs,  doing  my 
best,  I  would  lie  awake,  lamenting  the  barrenness  of  my  ministry. 
While  wondering  at  my  impotence  to  save  souls  a  humble  evan- 
gelist came  to  the  city.  and.  without  scholarship  or  any  of  the 
boasted  arts  of  oratory,  won  converts  b\-  the  hundreds,  and  among 
them  two  of  my  own  daughters.  Ik-fore  he  left,  I  began  to  pray 
more,  and  God  revealed  the  cause  of  my  leanness.  I  was  neither 
gii'ing  to  God  after  a  godly  sort,  nor  who/lly  obedient  to  llis  Son, 


THE  SUPERNATURAL  FACTOR  IX   MISSIONS. 


271 


nor  ]:)assionatcly  yearnin"-  after  souls  as  one  endued  with  Holy 
Ghost  power. 

I  set  my  face  toward  the  Lord  God,  with  prayer  and  fasting, 
and  afterward  got  some  of  the  godHest  of  my  people  to  praying; 
and,  on  March  24,  1876,  while  some  sixty  of  us  were  in  prayer 
for  the  Holy  Ghost's  power,  the  elegant  church  building  took  fire 
and  was  burned  down.  We  went  into  the  Opera  House  and  began 
a  mission,  especially  for  non-churchgoers,  and  at  once  God's 
power  was  manifest.  (3n  the  fourth  Sunday  night  a  mysterious 
solemnity  invested  the  place,  and  I  was  unable  to  proceed  in  my 
sermon,  being  choken  with  emotion,  and  I  turned  the  preaching 
service  into  a  prayer  meeting.  More  than  thirty  persons  at  once 
arose  for  prayer,  and  then  and  there  a  revival  began  that  in  six- 
teen months  brought  in  more  converts  than  in  sixteen  years  pre- 
ceding. My  ministry  has  never  been  barren,  as  before,  since  the 
day  when  I  learned  the  new  secret  of  fruitfulness.  "If  we  believe 
not,  yet  he  abideth  faithful ;  He  cannot  deny  Himself." 

Beloved  brethren  and  sisters  in  Christ  Jesus,  we  may  never  meet 
again  until  we  meet  before  the  throne  of  God.  I  have  come  to  en- 
treat you  to  signalize  this  fiftieth  anniversary  of  your  missions  in 
Egypt  and  in  India,  by  a  wdiole-hearted  consecration  of  yourselves 
to  the  service  of  God.  I  pray  you,  ministers,  to  go  back  to  your 
congregations  and  cast  yourselves  upon  God  as  never  before,  to 
surrender  yourselves  anew  to  the  Mastership  of  Jesus,  to  tarry  be- 
fore God  until  you  receive  the  enduement  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Stimulate  your  people  to  the  giving  that  is  an  act  and  habit  of 
faith  in  God  the  Father ;  to  the  going  and  sending,  preaching  and 
witnessing,  which  is  surrender  to  God  the  Son ;  and  to  that  deep 
humiliation  and  believing  supplication  that  is  the  condition  of  re- 
ception of  the  fullness  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Multiply  your  gifts  a 
thousandfold  at  a  cost  of  real  self-denial,  and  "make  to  yourselves 
friends  out  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that  when  ye  fail 
they  may  receive  }ou  into  everlasting  halntations."  Give  vour- 
selves  in  absolute  obedience  to  Christ.  Do  not  depend  on  ma- 
chinery, on  organization,  on  Ways  and  Means,  or  anything  less 
than  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

What  a  mighty  wave  of  revival  would  sweep  over  the  whole 
denomination,  if  every  preacher  and  missionary  here  today,  would 
rise  up  before  God  and  determine  ''By  the  grace  of  God  mv  min- 
istry shall  henceforth  be  a  ministry  of  Holy  Spirit  Power." 

Queen  Victoria  was  a  remarkable  woman.  When  as  a  girl  of 
eighteen,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  informed  her  that  she  was 


272  I'OREIGN   MISSIONARY  JU15ILEE  CONVENTION, 

successor  to  the  throne  of  Great  Britain,  she  wouldn't  let  him  go 
until  he  had  bowed  with  her  before  the  throne  of  God,  to  ask  that 
she  might  be  a  good.  Christian  queen.  They  celebrated  her  coro- 
nation with  a  series  of  festivities,  concluding  with  Handel's  Ora- 
torio of  the  Messiah.  Whenever  that  is  performed  in  England,  the 
whole  congregation  arises  as  the  final  chorus  begins.  Her  ladies 
in  waiting  intimated  that  it  would  be  improper  for  her  to  rise  with 
the  audience,  a  violation  of  her  queenly  dignity  and  imperial  pre- 
rogative. So  when,  at  the  Hallelujah  chorus  the  whole  assembly 
rose,  she  kept  her  seat,  but  when,  further  on,  the  grand  climax 
was  reached — "King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of  Lords" — her  imperial 
dignity  was  forgotten  and  her  court  manners,  and,  rising  to  her 
feet,  she  folded  her  arms  across  her  breast,  and  bowed  her  head, 
with  the  diadem  of  the  British  Empire  upon  her  brow.  God 
honors  all  surrendered  souls.  "Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem,  and 
let  us  crown  Him  Lord  of  all !" 


FAREWELL  WORDS. 

THE  REV.  ROBERT  m'wATTY  RUSSELL,  D.D. 

As  we  come  to  the  closing  moments  of  this  solemn  and  joy- 
•ous  convention  we  are  confronted  by  the  question,  "What  shall 
be  the  results  in  living  purposes  for  our  lives  and  the  work  of  the 
Church?"  Of  interest  we  have  had  much  and  of  enthusiasm  a 
marked  degree ;  but  it  would  be  possible  for  these  to  recoil  upon 
themselves,  and  the  Word  of  God  to  Ezekiel  to  be  repeated  con- 
cerning the  results  of  the  inspiring  addresses  that  have  commanded 
attention  and  awakened  interest.  After  one  of  Ezekiel's  mes- 
sages God's  statement  concerning  results  was,  "And  as  for  thee, 
son  of  man,  the  children  of  thy  people  talk  of  thee  by  the  walls  and 
in  the.  doors  of  the  houses,  and  speak  one  to  another,  every  one 
to  his  brother,  saying.  Come,  I  pray  you,  and  hear  what  is  the 
word  that  cometh  forth  from  Jehovah.  And  tliey  come  unto  thee 
as  the  people  cometh,  and  they  sit  before  thee  as  my  people,  and 
they  hear  thy  words,  but  do  them  not ;  for  with  their  mouth  they 
show  much  love,  but  their  heart  goeth  after  their  gain.  And,  lo, 
thou  art  unto  them  as  a  very  lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleas- 
ant voice  and  can  play  well  upon  an  instrument ;  for  they  hear  thy 
words,  but  they  do  them  not." 

For  a  different  result  we  pray,  desiring  that  hearing  shall  be 
followed  by  heeding,  pleasure  by  purpose,  interest  by  action.  Our 
lives  should  be  influenced  permanently  by  being  led  out  into  fuller 
participation  in  Christ's  work.  Otherwise  it  were  better  that  we 
had  never  come  together  for  review  and  outlook  of  our  work ;  for 
God  will  hold  us  accountable  for  these  days  of  privilege  in  fellow- 
ship with  himself  and  each  other. 

Surely  as  a  result  of  our  fellowship  with  God  and  widened 
knowledge  of  His  work  three  resolves  should  enter  into  life's 
purposes  and  plans : 

L  We  should  resolve  that  we  will  hereafter  pray  according 
to  the  world's  need  and  in  conformity  to  the  Master's  declaration 
and  command,  "The  harvest  truly  is  great,  but  the  laborers  are 
few :  pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest  that  He  send  forth 
laborers  unto  His  harvest." 

273 


274  FOREIGN   MISSIONARY  JUBILEE  CONVENTION. 

Prayer  on  the  part  of  God's  people  is  a  necessary  condition 
of  the  world's  evangelization.  Prayer  is  not  a  means  of  awaken- 
ing a  sleeping  God,  nor  of  overcoming  the  relnctance  of  God  to 
bestow  mercy  ;  but  is  rather  our  approach  to  a  waiting  God  and 
our  taking  hold  of  Divine  willingness.  It  is  the  method  of  mother 
love  to  await  willingness  before  bestowing  certain  gifts  upon 
childhood.  While  a  mother  might  carry  a  writhing,  struggling 
child  to  a  table  of  bounty,  it  is  love's  method  to  wait  until  there  is 
a  willingness  and  desire  to  receive.  Thus  does  God  await  the  wil- 
lingness and  desire  of  His  people  as  the  necessary  conditions  of 
bestowing  power.  The  prayer  of  faith  likewise  furnishes  a  chan- 
nel for  the  transmission  of  heavenly  power.  While  the  existence 
of  a  great  powerhouse  in  one  part  of  a  city  insures  the  possibility 
of  light  and  power  in  other  parts,  the  communication  cannot  be 
made  without  insulated  lines  for  transmission.  Prayer  and  faith 
constitute  the  lines  that  connect  the  Church  of  Christ  with  the 
Tlirone  of  God.  Lines  and  lamps  are  needed  as  truly  in  the  spirit- 
ual as  in  the  physical  realm.  Wires  and  workers  are  both  needed 
that  God's  power  may  reach  a  needy  world.  Realizing  that  prayer 
has  this  necessary  place  in  God's  purpose  of  grace  for  the  world, 
and  that  he  verily  needs  our  supplication  and  faith  as  the  lines 
through  which  to  transmit  His  saving  energy,  shall  we  not  resolve 
to  join  Christ  in  the  ministry  of  intercession  for  the  world,  and  by 
holy  living  and  testimony  place  ourselves  at  the  ends  of  wires  that 
reach  upward  to  the  unfailing  sources  of  Divine  light  and  power? 
Shall  not  this  be  one  firm  resolve  that  we  will  pray  daily  that  God 
will  send  forth  laborers  into  His  harvest? 

n.  Shall  wc  not  add  to  this  resolve  that  we  will  //:'('  more 
fully  in  accord  with  Divine  commandment,  and  giz'c  according  to 
the  Divinely  suggested  method  of  financiering  the  kingd(Mn  ? 

That  believers  should  live  holy  lives,  in  imitation  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  by  so  doing  let  their  light  shine  for  him,  is  accepted 
without  argument ;  but  it  does  not  seem  vividly  realized  by  all  that 
holy  living  includes  liberal  giving,  and  that  a  standard  of  benefi- 
cence other  than  that  furnished  by  transient  emotions  is  needed 
for  the  guidance  of  the  Christian.  I  would  certainly  introduce 
no  element  of  controversy  at  this  stage  of  our  fellowship,  but 
would  seek  to  make  it  plain  that  God  has  given  suggestion  as  to 
how  to  financier  the  work  of  the  kingdom.  To  some  of  us  certain 
things  seem  very  plain. 

I.  We  believe  that  God  began  dealing  with  man  with  both  a 
time  and  a  property  restriction,  and  that  both  will  l)e  needed  until 


FAREWELL  WORDS/ 


276 


the  end  of  time  to  maintain  a  proper  spiritual  balance  in  man's 
nature.  Unrestricted  possession  soon  produces  the  sense  of  owner- 
ship. When  your  umbrella  has  been  in  your  friend's  house  a 
month  he  begins  to  think  it  his  own.  Give  your  tenant  his  home 
free  of  rent  for  one  year,  and  he  will  expect  it  a  second,  deem  it 
his  right  by  a  third^  and  in  a  fourth  year  forcibly  resist  your 
claims  of  ownership.  The  tree  of  forbidden  fruit  in  Eden  was  a 
benevolent  arrangement  of  God,  that  man  might  ever  be  reminded 
of  God's  ownership,  and  that  the  fruit,  of  every  other  tree  was 
furnished  by  Divine  beneficence.  The  tithe  we  believe  to  be  an 
outgrowth  and  application  of  the  property  restriction  begun  in 
Eden,  and  as  necessary  to  the  stability  of  human  character  as 
God's  time  reservation  in  the  Sabbath  law,  which  began  also  in 
Eden. 

2.  We  believe  that  Abraham  has  some  special  reason  for- 
giving to  Melchizedec,  King  of  Salem  and  priest  of  the  Most  High 
God.  a  tithe  of  the  spoils  of  war,  and  that  his  example  carries  a 
suggestion  for  Abraham's  spiritual  children  in  their  giving  of 
tribute  to  Him  who  is  "a  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Mel- 
chizedec." 

3.  We  believe  that  Jacob,  after  vision  of  the  opened  heaven 
and  the  angel-crowned  ladder,  vowed  to  give  a  tenth  of  his  posses- 
sions unto  God,  because,  like  other  young  men,  having  come  to 
know  the  God  of  his  fathers,  he  resolved  to  adjust  his  life  accord- 
ing to  known  duty. 

4.  We  believe  and  are  sure  -that  the  giving  of  the  tenth  to  the 
Levites  for  their  portion  was  not  the  inauguration  of  the  tithe  law, 
but  a  new  adjustment  of  its  results  to  provide  for  the  national 
worship. 

5.  We  believe  that  both  the  Sabbath  law  and  the  tithing  law 
have  small  emphasis  in  the  New  Testament,  because  the  Jews  in 
the  time  of  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles  were  strict  Sabbatarians 
and  tithe-payers,  and  that  the  special  need  of  that  time  was  the 
enlargement  of  the  spiritual  life  that  found  expression  in  law. 
We  believe  likev/ise  that  our  Saviour  indorsed  both  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath  and  of  the  tithe,  and  that  any  line  of  argument  which 
relieves  man  of  definite  property  obligations  toward  God  can  with 
equal  force  be  turned  against  the  permanence  of  the  Sabbath  as  a 
means  of  grace. 

6.  The  Gospel  injunction  to  give  as  we  are  prospered  evi- 
dently demands  a  little  application  of  mathematics,  if  the  Church 
is  to  escape  the  inconsistency  of  having  two  men  equally  prosper- 


276  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  JUBILEE  CONVENTION. 

■ous  giving  entirely  different  amounts  to  Christ,  because  influenced 
by  disposition.  The  fact  that  we  would  permit  no  man  to  build  our 
houses  while  using  a  ruler  that  shrank  or  expanded  several  inches 
with  the  varying  temperature  of  the  weather,  should  keep  us  from 
leaving  the  measure  of  our  duty  in  Church  finance  to  the  varying 
suggestions  of  transient  emotion. 

7.  Because  love  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  law,  and  the  law  itself 
the  rule  of  action  for  the  expression  of  normal  life,  we  should 
expect  the  love  and  life  of  the  Gospel  dispensation  to  carry  men 
as  far  in  lines  of  beneficence  and  self-sacrifice  as  was  required  by 
the  law  of  the  Old  Dispensation.  The  tithing  law  may,  therefore, 
become  the  testing  of  our  spiritual  vitality.  Since  love  is  the  ful- 
fillment of  the  law,  freedom  from  its  requirements  cannot  be 
claimed  in  the  name  of  grace.  Gospel  conferments  have  been 
made,  "That  the  ordinance  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us,  who 
walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit."  Therefore,  he  who 
in  the  name  of  grace  does  less  than  was  required  by  law,  but 
denies  inner  fullness  of  life  and  proclaims  himself  no  longer  under 

grace,  but  in  disgrace. 

8.  Because  God  gave  the  law  of  the  tithe  in  the  Old  Dispensa- 
tion we  can  be  sure  that  it  was  good  and  accept  it  as  His  sugges- 
tion for  the  financiering  of  the  Church  in  the  New  Dispensation. 
The  fact  that  God  did  not  leave  the  Old  Testament  Dispensation 
without  a  method  is  suggestive  that  He  would  not  do  so  in  the 
New ;  while  the  fact  that  the  Church  has  so  largely  failed  in  her 
work  of  world  evangelization  without  a  Divinely  appointed 
method  suggests  the  need  of  returning  to  God's  plan.  Does  any 
one  for  a  moment  believe  that  God  projected  so  great  a  plan  as 
world  evangelization  without  suggesting  some  method  for  its 
financiering?  It  is  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  all  the  training 
of  the  ages  in  tithes  and  offerings  was  to  prepare  God's  peoi)le  for 
Gospel  work? 

9.  That  our  whole  system  of  Church  finance  should  be  lifted 
out  of  the  realm  of  transitory  human  emotion  into  the  plane  of 
love  and  law  is  a  supreme  need.  To-day  men  wait  to  give  until 
they  feel  like  giving,  and  ignore  duty  from  lack  of  emotion.  Dr. 
Jacob  Chamberlain,  the  veteran  missionary  of  India,  tells  of  a 
horse  which,  because  of  certain  early  experiences,  would  never 
■start  on  a  journey  until  his  ear  was  twisted.  After  some  early 
.accident  in  hitching  he  was  afraid  to  move  until  made  to  forget 
his  fear  by  pain  of  his  twisted  ear.  Afterwards,  when  all  fear  of 
further  accident  had  passed  away,  he  still  demanded  the  formality 


FAREWELL  WORDS.  277 

of  pressure  on  his  ear,  and  would  even  turn  his  head  to  receive  it. 
Many  Christians  follow  this  example.  They  wait  to  give  until 
some  one  stirs  them  mightily  by  impassioned  appeal,  causing  tem- 
porary forgetfulness  of  love  for  gold.  God  hasten  the  day  when 
we  shall  do  what  we  should  do  no  matter  how  we  feel,  and  find 
right  emotion  by  the  exercise  of  the  will  in  obedience.  Make  the 
tithe  the  minimum  of  beneficence,  and  in  your  joy  of  giving  you 
will  soon  pass  beyond  it,  just  as  the  true  keeper  of  the  Sabbath 
longs  to  make  other  time  sacred  and  hails  with  joy  the  mid-week 
hour  of  prayer.  Since  the  need  of  the  world  is  now  the  altar  of 
the  Church,  shall  not  our  gifts  for  Gospel  progress  equal  the 
demands  of  law  and  God's  method  for  Old  Testament  times  be- 
come at  least  the  accepted  Divine  suggestion  for  our  conduct  in 
the  New  ? 

III.  We  should  likewise  resolve  that  we  will  strive  to  lead 
others  into  apprehension  of  the  glorious  mission  of  the  Church, 
as  expressed  in  Christ's  last  command  and  provided  for  by  the 
bestowment  of  His  Spirit. 

Surely  no  greater  and  nobler  work  was  ever  committed  to 
intelligent  beings  than  world  evangelization.  The  angels  of  God 
would  hasten  from  the  world  of  light  on  high  to  do  this  work  did 
God  permit  it.  But  for  redeemed  man  alone  is  this  sacred  privilege 
of  sharing  with  the  Son  of  God  the  work  of  world  redemption  and 
afterward  sharing  with  Him  the  glory  of  heavenly  reward. 

Shall  we  not  now,  as  the  redeemed  of  a  covenant-keeping 
God,  and  as  the  sons  and  daughters  of  forefathers  who  wrote  their 
covenants  and  solemn  leagues  in  their  blood,  enter  into  league  and 
covenant  that  we  will  draw  near  to  God  in  holy  purpose,  intelli- 
gently and  solemnly  registering  three  vows:  That  we  will  here- 
after pray  according  to  the  world's  need  and  in  conformity  to  the 
Master's  declaration  and  command,  "The  harvest  truly  is  great, 
but  the  laborers  are  few :  pray  ye,  therefore,  the  Lord  of  the  Har- 
vest that  He  send  forth  laborers  into  His  harvest."  That  we  will 
live  more  fully  in  accord  with  the  Divine  commandment  and  give 
as  a  minimum  the  tithe  of  our  increase  to  Christ,  according  to  the 
Divinely  suggested  method  of  financiering  the  kingdom.  That 
we  will  strive  to  lead  others  into  apprehension  of  the  glorious 
mission  of  the  Church,  as  expressed  in  Christ's  last  command  and 
provided  for  by  the  bestowment  of  His  Spirit. 

The  vast  congregation  was  then  asked  to  rise  in  token  of 
accepting  these  vows.     By  far  the  larger  portion  of  those  present 


278  FOREIGN   MISSIONARY  JUBILEE  CONVENTION. 

stood    in   token   of  acceptance   and   were   led   in   prayer   by   the 
speaker,  the  choir  following  the  prayer  with  the  tender  appeal : 

"To-day  if  ye  will  hear  His  voice, 
Then  harden  not  your  heart." 


DIAGRAMS  AND  CHARTS. 

Size  of  our  Foreign  Fields. 

"Without  Christ." 

The  Unused  Cross. 

Home  and  Foreign  Fields. 

The  Occupation  of  our  Fields — Membership. 

The  Occupation  of  our  Fields — Ordained  Workers. 

How  Qur  Church  Funds  are  Spent. 

In  Each  Hemisphere. 

A  Study  in  Proportions. 

Growth  of  Native  Church   in  Egypt. 

Growth  of   Native  Church   in   India. 

The  Foreign  Missionary  Dollar. 


281 


SIZE  OF  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS 


NOTE:— The  States  enclosed  within  the  black  line  have  a  population  equal  to  the 
foreign  mission  fields  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,— 16,000,000 
people 


:282 


IN  OUR  FOREIGN  FIELDS 


I  DIES  EyEHV  MINUTE, 
60  DIE  EVERY  HOUR, 
/.440  DIE  EVERY  DAY. 
43.000  DIE  EVERY  MONTH, 
500.000  DIE  EVERY  YEAR. 


"WITHOUT  CHRIST. 

WHAT  DOES  THIS  MEAN, 

TO    THEAV? 
TO    HIAl? 
TO    AlE? 


283: 


THE  UNUSED  CROSS 


AND  I.  IF  I  BE 
LIFTEO  UP  FROM 
THE  EARTH,  mU 
DRAW  ALL 
MEN  UNTO 
ME. 


ONE  HALF 
THE  WORLD 
IS  BEYOND 
THE  REACH  OF 
ANYMES5EN&ER 
OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


284 


HOME    AND    FOREIGN    FIELDS 

OUR 
UNITED    PRESBYTERIAN 


FOREIGN     MISSION    FIELD 


16,000.000 


\ 


\ 


NOTE:— As  there  is  one  Protestant  church  member  in  America  to  everjr 
three  who  are  not,  the  Home  Fi«ld  of  the  United  Presbyteriatt 
Chnrch  it  taken  at  approximately  three  times  its  membershipi. 


285 


THEOCCUPATIONof  OUR  FIELDS, 


OUR  HOME  CHURCH  and  FIELD, 
FIELD'THREE  TIMES  MEMBERSHIP. 


OUR 
mEI&N 
CHURCH 

AND 

FIELD 


FIELD 

914 

TIMES 

iimBimiP. 


MOmCHUm-HQMOMEmEK  HOME  FIELD  380.000 
fimm  CHURCH  I7.S00  MEMBERS  FOREIOH  FIELD  WMOMO 


286 


TheOccupation  of  our  Fields, 

SHOWm  THE  682  PASTORS  AND  STATED 
SUPPUES  IN  AMERICA,  ANO  THE  83  ORDAINED 
MISSI0NARIES,F0REION  AHD  NATm,  IN  OUR 
FOREION  ^^ -^      FIELDS. 


287 


o 
< 

'>< 

PC 
O 

> 
H 

w 


CONGREGATIONAL  EXPENSES 

70% 

FOREIGN 
MISSIONS 

10% 

EXTENSION 

WORK 

IN 

AMERICA 

o 
o 

G 
70 

O 

rn 

G 

o 

re 

ni 

G 
Z 

a 
> 

70 

m 


288 


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DC 

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r.1 

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z 

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?89 


A  STUDY  IN  PI^OPORTIONS 


THE    NEED 


THE  FORCE 


THE  PROPORTION  REACHED 

IN  HOME  FIELD  IN    FOREIGN   FIELD 


Tor<^/0n 


rjc/c/ 


290 


GROWTH  or  OURNATIVC  CHURCH 
EGYPT 


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FIFTY  YEA.RS  GROWTH 

NOrtv: — I'he   horizontal    lines   refer   to   membersliip. 
The  perpendicular   Hues  refer  to  years. 


GROWTH  or  OUR  NATIVE  CHURCH 
INDIA 


291 


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FIFTY  YEA.RS  GROWTH 

NOTE:— The  horizontal  lines  refer  to  membership. 
The  perpendicular  lines  refer  to  years. 


292 


THE  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  DOLLAR  I 
WHERE  ir  GOES  ! 


A.— One  and  three-tenths  cents  goes  to  the  Emergency  Fiiiul.  llii.S 
is  often  spent  in  meeting  emergencies  in  the  foreign  field;  in  a  few  rare 
cases,  it  is  applied  to  emergencies  in  administration  at  home:  usually  it 
reverts  to  the  credit  of  the  general  fund  as  a  balance  carried  over  tfi  the' 
following  year. 

V>. —  Eight-tenths  of  a  cent  is  applied  to  interest  on  moneys  horr(iwed 
t(j  keep  the  work  going  until  the  contributions  come  in.  If  the  Church 
distributed  its  contributions  equally  throughout  the  year  instead  of  de- 
laying them  until  the  end  of  the  year,  this  item  of  expense  would  dis-' 
appear. 

C- — Seven-tenths  of  a  cent  is  apjilied  to  printing  missionary  report.'? 
and  other  missionary  literature  for  the  maintenance  and  development 
of   missionary   interest. 

D.— Two  and  three-tenths  cents  is  applied  to  office  expenses,  which 
includes  the  entire  administration  in  America  of  the  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  (approximately)  which  is  handled  in  our  foreign  missionary  work. 

Ninety-four  and  nine-teiith  cents  goes  to  the  work,  directly,  im- 
mediately and   unconditionally. 

NOTE. — The  above  proportions  are  based  on  the  appropriations 
of  the  General  Assembly  in  1904. 


Ipro0tam  anb  ilDusic 


UK 


Semi*Ccntennial 

JorciQu  /nbteetonar^ 

Convention 

OF   THK 

Xnnitcb  IPiceb^terian  Cburcb  of  HI.  H. 

CELEBRATING   Till' 

FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY 

of  the  f  ounMiio  of  tbc  rtMsc-ione  in 


bixth 
United 
byterian 
Chareh 


Highland  Ave. 

above 

Penn  Ave. 


December  e*S,  1904,  Ipittsburg,  pa. 


CONVENTION 


ITS. 


The  Evangelization  of  the  World  ! 

We  can  do  It  if  we  will. --Samuel  J.  Mills. 

Expect  great  things  TPonn  God  ;  attempt  great  things 

for  God. --William    Carej'. 

Christ  is  conquering;  Christ  is  reigning;   Christ  is 
triumph  I  ng,--Charlemangne's  Motto. 

Your  love  has  a  broken  wing  if  it  cannot  fly  across 

the  ocean. --Maltbie  Babcock. 

He  prays  not  at  all   in   whose   prayers  there    is   no 
mention  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. --Jewish  Proverh 

The  Church  which   ceases  to   be   Evangelistic  will 
soon  cease  to  be  Evangelical. --auxuhU!  Duff 

We  cannot  serve  God  AND  mammon,  but  we  can 
serve  God  WITH  mammon. --R    K   Speer. 


Every  church  should  support  two  pastors--one  for 
the  thousands  at  home,  the  other  for  the 
millions  abroad. --Jacob  Chani     '    . 

i  would  rather  fail  while  trying  to  do  something, 
than  to  avoid  failure    by   sitting    still    and   doing 

nothing. 

<%<  '■ 

I  cannot,  !  dare  not,  go  up  to  Judgment  till  I  have 
done  the  utmost  God  enables  me  to  do  to  diffuse 
His  glory  through  the  world. --Asahel  Grant. 


Rev.  Thos.  McCague,  D.D.  Mrs.  Menrietta  flcCague.  Rev.  Jas.  Barnett,  D.D. 

THE  FOUNDERS  OF  OUR  EGYPTIAN  MISSION. 


Rev.  J.  B.  Diles,  D.D.  Hrs.  W.  J.  Reid.  Rev.  W.  W.  Barr,  D.D. 

OUR  FOREIGN  SECRETARIES. 


Rev.  Andrew  Oordoa,  D.U.  Hrs.  Rebecca  C.  Gordon.  Hiss  Elizabeth  G.  Gordon. 

THE  FOUNDERS  OF  OUR  INDIA  MISSION. 


CONVENTION   SPEAKERS. 


REV.  Joseph  kyle,  d.d.  robert  e.  speer,  eso.      rev.  j.  r.  mcclurkin,  d.d. 


MRS.  ANNIE  R.   HERRON.  J.  CAMPBELL   WHITE,  ESO. 


REV.  ALEX.  GILCHRIST,  D.D.  MRS.  J.  P.  WHITE,  REV.  C    S.  CLELAVD. 

2 


THE    BOARD    OF    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

OF    THE 

UNITED  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  OF  N.  A. 

MEMBERS. 

Rev.  W.  M.  Anderson.  Rev.  M.  G.  Kyle,  D.D. 

Rev.  C.  S.  Cleland.  Robert  L.  Latimrr,  Esq. 

Robert  H.  Ferguson,  Esq.  James  S.  McCracken,  Eso. 

Rev.  S.  G.   Fitzgerald.  John.  R.  McLean,  Esq. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Turnbull,  D.D. 


OFFICERS. 


President:     Rev.    M.    G.    Kyle,  D.D.,     1132    Arrott    vSt.,     Frankford, 

Philadelphia. 
Recording    Secretary:      Rev.    C.    S.  Cleland,    802    N.  17th    Street, 

Philadelphia. 
Corresponding   Secretary  :     Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  921    Wither- 

spoon  Building,  Philadelphia. 
Treasurer  :  Robert  L.  Latimer,  Eso.,  31  N.  Front  St.,  Philadelphia. 


WOMEN'S  BOARD  OF  DIRECTORS, 

Mlss  K.  D.  Brown.  Mrs.  Mary  Clokey  Porter. 

Mrs.  H.  C.  Campbell.  Miss  E.  J.  Sloan. 

Miss  Elizabeth  Caughky.  Mrs.  R.  S.  Smith. 

Mrs.  Annie  R.  Hbrron.  Mrs.  N.  Wvlie  Stevenson. 

Mrs.  E.  M.  Hill.  Mrs.  N.  L.  Wallace. 

Mrs.  G.  W.  MacDonald.  Mrs.  Samuel  Yourd. 


:P-S.  J.   B.   iiiLL, 


Ik^.  :i^..:.    .■■   -  -r.^23-, 


OFFICERS. 


President  :      Mrs.      Annie     R.     Herron,     644     Maryland      Avenue, 

Pittsburg,    Pa. 
Recording  Secretary  :     Mrs.   Samuel  Yourd,  625  Highland  Avenue, 

Carnegie,  Pa. 
Foreign    Secretary:      Mrs.    E.    M.    Hill,    5502     Margaretta    Street, 

Pittsburg.   Pa. 
Treasurer  :     Miss  E.  J.  Sloan,  5150  Liberty  Avenue,  Pittsburg,  Pa.   " 


Convention  Program. 


The  music  will  be  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Wm.  Y.  Griffith,  Musical 

Director,  with  Mr.  H.  W.  Stratton,  Organist.     A  Union  Chorus 

will  assist  in  the  Song  Services. 


TUESDAY,  DECEMBER  6. 
Evening,  7.30  o'clock. 

Chairman.  REV.  J.  W.  WITHERSPOON,  D.  D.. 

Moderator  of  the   General   Assembly  of  the   United    Presbyterian   Church 
of  North  America. 

7.30.     Service  of  Song. 

8.00.    A    Convention    Foreword Rp:v.    C.    S.    Cleland 

Recording  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church. 

8.30.     Address Robert   E.    SpEEr,   Esq. 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  New  York 
City. 

9.30.     Benediction. 


WEDNESDAY,  DECEMBER  7. 
Morning,  9.30  o'clock. 

MRS.  H.  C.  CAMPBELL.  Presiding. 

President  of  tlie  United  Presbyterian  Women's  Association. 

9.30.     Devotional  Service. 

9.45.     The  True  Spirit  of  Missions A'ev.  Joseph  Kvue,  D.  D. 

Professor  Systematic  Tlieology  and   llmniletics,  Xenia  Tlieological 
Seminary. 

10.45.     Fifty  Years  of  Foreign  Missions  in  EG^•pT. 

Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church. 

12.00.    Benediction. 

Afternoon,  2.30  o'clock. 

Chairman,  REV.  JOHN   McNAUGHER.  D.   D  , 

Professor  of  New  Testament   Literature  and   Criticism,    .Allegheny   Theo- 
logical   Seminary. 

2.30.     Devotional  Service. 

2.45.    Reflex  Influence  of  Foreign  Missions  in  the  Life  of  the  Home 

Church Rev.  Alexander  Gilchrist,  D.  D. 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Churcli. 


WEDNESDAY  (Continued.) 

3.15.     Our  Early  Foreign  Missionary  Work Rev.  M.  G.  Kyle,  D   D 

President  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian  Church. 

3.35.     Introduction   ok   jNIissionakiks. 

4.00.     Our  Sudan  Mission R,.;v.  J.  K.  Giffen    D  D 

Missionary  to  the  Egyptian  Sudan,  Africa.  '    ' 

5.00.     Benediction. 

RECEPTION  TO  DELEGATES. 


Evening,  7.30  o'clock, 

BUSINESS  MEN'S  MEETING 

in  the 

CONVENTION  CHURCH. 

Chairman.  A.   P.  BURCHFIELD,  Esq., 
Pittsburg,  Pa. 
7.30.    Praise  Service. 

8.00.    The  Greatest  Business  in  the  World.  ..J.  Campbell  White,  Esq. 

Secretary  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means. 
9.00     Laymen's  Conference  on  Foreign  Missions. 

9.30.     Benediction. 


WOMEN'S  MEETING 
in  the 
EMORY  M.  E.  CHURCH. 

(One  block  below  Convention  Church.) 

MRS.    E.    M.    HILL,  Presiding. 

Foreign    Secretary    of    the    Women's    Board    of    the    United    Presbyterian 
Churc:h 

7.30.     Devotional  Service Miss  Kate  A.  Hill 

Missionary  to  India. 

8.00.     Women's  Work  for  Women:    Its  Past Mrs.  W.  W.  Barr 

Philadelphia. 

8.30.     Women's  Work  for  Wo.men:    Its  Present Mrs.  J.  P.  White 

Topeka,  Kan. 

9.00.     Women's  Work  for  Women:  Its  Future.. Miss  Elizabeth  Irvine 
Albany,  Oregon. 

9.30.     Benediction. 


THURSDAY,  DECEMBER  8. 

Morning,  9.30  o'clock. 

Chairman,  REV.  J.  A.  THOMPSON.  D.  D., 
President  of  Tarkio  "College. 
9.30.     DevotionaIv  Service. 

9.45.    The  Truth  About  Love.— Phil,  i :  9-1 1. 

Rev.  W.  C.  Williamson,  D.  D. 
Burlington,  Iowa. 

10.45.     Fifty  Years  in  India,  a  Land  Strange  in  History,  Dark  in  Sin, 

Bright  in  Promise Rev.  J.  K.  McClurkin,  D.  D. 

Pastor  Shadyside  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

12.00.    Benediction. 


Afternoon,  2.30  o'clock. 

Chairman,  JOHN   H.   MURDOCH,   ESQ. 
Washington,  Pa. 
2.30.    Devotional  Service. 

2.45.    Foreign  Missions  and  the  Pastor Rev.  D.  F.  McGill 

Pastor  Sixth  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Allegheny,  Pa. 

3.15.    Conference. 

Note  :— Speakers  allowed  one  minute  each.  Speak  but  once  and 
on  one  question  only.  Do  not  take  time  to  repeat  the  question, 
but  simply  call  it  by  number.  Begin  by  giving  your  Name,  and 
your  Town.  Keep  to  the  point.  When  the  chairman  rises,  it  is  a 
signal  that  the  speaker's  time  is  up. 

Questions: 

1.  How  often  should  the  cause  of  foreign  missions  be  presented  to 
a  congregation? 

2.  What  are  the  sources  from  which  material  for  foreign  mission 
addresses  may  be  collected? 

3.  What  place  should  foreign  missions  have  in  the  congregational 
prayer  meeting? 

4.  How  can  the  pastor  best  awaken  the  attention  of  apathetic 
minds? 

5.  How  make  prayer  for  missions  and  missionaries  more  than  a 
respectable  formality? 

6.  How  get  the  memoers  of  a  congregation  to  appropriate  the  con- 
tents of  a  missionary  library? 

7.  How  overcome  a  boy's  dread  of  or  a  man's  contempt  for  mem- 
bership in  a  missionary  society,  so  far  as  to  induce  him  to  organize  or 
join  one? 

8.  What  is  the  lowest  standard  of  giving  to  foreign  missions  that 
a  pastor  should  set  before  his  people? 

9.  What  can  a  pastor  do  to  supply  a  congregation's  lack  of  system 
in  making  foreign  missionary  offerings? 

10.  What  efficient  methods  of  calling  out  gifts  to  foreign  missions 
may  be  used  by  the  pastor? 

3.30.     Foreign  Missions  and  the  Women's  Missionary   Sociktv 

Mrs.  Annie  R.  Heruon 
President  of  the  Women's  Board  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church. 


THURSDAY  (Continued) 

4.00.    Conference. 

(See  Note  above.) 
Questions: 

1.  How  can  the  missionary  spirit  be  developed  in  the  liome  church? 

2.  What  department  of  our  Women's  Missionary  societies  needs 
tne  most  attention  at  the  present  time? 

3.  How  far  should  missionary  societies  take  up  the  United  Study 
of  Missions? 

4.  How  can  a  better  attendance  of  members  be  secured  at  our 
missionary  mee'^ings,  and  how  can  we  interest  church  members  in  mis- 
sion work  who  do  not  attend  the  missionary  meetings? 

5.  Would  it  not  be  more  business  like  and  helpful  to  the  work  to 
have  a  corresponding  secretary  in  each  of  the  missionary  associations 
of  India  and  Egypt  to  communicate  all  business  pertaining  to  women's 
work  to  the  Women's  Board? 

6.  Should  mission  churches  depending  on  any  of  the  Boards  for 
partial  support,  undertake  the  salary  of  a  missionary  in  any  of  the  mis- 
sion fields? 

7.  To  stimulate  the  missionary  spirit,  would  it  not  be  advisable  to 
plan  for  a  prayer  service  for  missions  at  least  once  a  month  in  every 
congregation  in  our  church? 

8.  What  are  some  of  the  best  methods  of  calling  the  attention  of 
the  churches  to  the  place  and  power  of  money  as  a  factor  in  God's  plan 
for  the  salvation  of  the  world? 

9.  What  are  the  chief  hindrances  in  the  training  of  the  children  in 
missionary  service? 

10.  .  What  are  some  of  the  best  methods  of  teaching  and  establish- 
ing systematic  giving  for  missions? 

4.15.     Foreign   Missions  in  the   Sabbath   School  and  Young  People's 

Society C.  V.  Vickery,  Esq. 

Secretary  of  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement,  New  York 
pity. 

1.  The  Missionary  Committee — Its  Organization  and  Duties. 

2.  The  Missionary  Library — Its  Purchase  and  Circulation. 

3.  The  Mission  Study  Class — Its  Organization  and  Conduct. 

4.  Missionary  Meetings. 

5.  Giving  to  Missions. 

6.  Prayer  and  Missions. 

7.  Missions  in  the  Sabbath  School. 

5.00.    Benediction. 


Evening,  7.30  o'clock. 

Chairman.  Rev.  CHAS.  R.  WATSON. 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  I'nited  Presby- 
terian Church. 

7.30.     Service  of  Song. 

8.00  The  Supernatural  Factor  in  Missions.  Rev.  A.  T.  Pierson,  D.  D. 
Editor-in-Chief  of  The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y. 

9.15.    Farewell  Words Rev.  R.  M.  Russell,  D.  D. 

Pastor  of  Convention  Church. 

9.30.    Benediction. 


FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  EXHIBIT. 


The  Foreign  Missionary  Exhibit  is  located  on  the  gallery  floor  of 
the  Sabbath  School  rooms  of  the  Sixth  United  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  Exhibit  is  arranged  in  four  main  sections:  one  for  India,  one 
for  Egypt,  one  for  the  Sudan,  and  one  for  the  Home  Department.  In  the 
first  three  are  gathered  articles  illustrating  the  dress,  manner  of  life 
and  customs  which  obtain  in  our  Mission  fields;  these  throw  light  on 
the  conditions,  problems  and  methods  of  missionary  work  in  these 
lands. 

Each  section  will  be  under  the  charge  of  one  or  more  persons  who 
can  explain  to  visitors  the  nature  and  use  of  articles  placed  on  exhibi- 
tion. 

The  Exhibit  will  be  open  during  the  following  hours:  8.30  to  9.30  in 
the  morning;  12  to  2.30  in  the  afternoon;  4  to  7  in  the  evening.  The 
Exhibit  will  not  be  open  when  the  Convention  is  in  session. 

Two  addresses  will  be  given  by  returned  missionaries,  one  on  Egypt 
and  one  on  India,  illustrating  with  costumes  the  customs  and  manners 
of  the  people  in  Egypt  and  India.  These  lectures  will  be  given  in  the 
Sabbath  School  chapel  between  1  and  2  on  Wednseday  and  Thursday 
afternoons. 

Visitors  are  requested  to  refrain  from  handling  articles  placed  on 
exhibition,  as  these  articles  are  loaned  and  must  be  returned  undam- 
aged. 

I.  Indian  Section:  Complete  Indian  costumes  illustrate  the 
appearance  and  dress  of  the  people.  An  Indian  village  model  gives  a 
vivid  idea  of  the  conditions  which  the  itinerant  missionary  has  to  deal 
with.  Note  the  products  of  our  Industrial  Schools,  where  weaving  and 
carpentry  are  especially  taught. 

II  Egyptian  Section:  A  full  line  of  wearing  apparel, . especially 
for  women,  illustrates  the  social  conventions  which  require  veiling  of  ■ 
women.  The  large  display  of  Christian  literature  in  the  Arabic  lan- 
guage indicates  one  of  the  most  effective  methods  of  missionary  work. 

III.  Sudanese  Section:  Shields,  spears,  clubs,  ivory  bracelets, 
beads,  help  to  make  the  real  savage  and  uncivilized  conditions  of  life 
in  the  Southern  Sudan.  The  Sudanese  Exhibit  will  excite  special  inter- 
est because  of  the  newness  and  strangeness  of  this  part  of  Africa  and 
because  many  of  these  articles  are  on  exhibition  for  the  first  time. 


IV.  Home  Department  Section:  Four  different  organizations  have 
extiibits  here:  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  the  Woman's  Board,  the 
Board  of  Publication  and  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement. 
These  exhibits  set  forth  the  al)undance  of  material  which  is  at  the 
disposal  of  Christian  workers  for  the  development  and  maintenance  of 
missionary  interest  in  the  home  church.  Pastors  wishing  missionary 
books  will  find  a  full  assortment  here.  Missionary  libraries  and  charts, 
text-books  and  leaflets  will  furnish  Sabbath  School  workers  and  young 
lieople  with  met  nods  of  work  for  their  home  congregations. 


EXHIBIT  NOTES, 


Do  not  fail  to  visit  the  Foreign 
Missionary  Exhibit. 

If  you  cannot  visit  our  Foreign 
Fields  by  crossing  the  ocean,  you 
can  do  so  by  visiting  the  Exhibit. 

Seeing  is  believing;  seeing  is 
understanding;  seeing  is  realiz- 
ing. 

Make  notes  and  rough  sketches 
of  the  charts  which  illustrate  for- 
eign missionary  progress  and 
needs  in  our  own  mission  fields. 
You  can  reproduce  these  on  paper 
or  blackboard  when  you  go  home. 

Pastors!  Take  note  of  the 
Home  Department.  Plenty  of  fuel 
there  for  missionary  fires! 


Superintendents!  Have  you  any 
system  for  educating  your  school 
in  Missions?  Take  home  a  free 
set  of  the  Board's  missionary  lit- 
erature for  Sabbath  Schools. 

Missionary  Committees!  Exam- 
ine the  equipments  of  the  Young 
People's  Missionary  Movement. 

The  Woman's  Board  has  a  very 
interesting  series  of  missionary 
leaflets. 

Attend  the  Illustrated  Lectures 
on  Customs  and  Manners  in  Egypt 
and  India. 

Through  the  kindiiess  of  Mr.  H. 
J.  Heinz,  his  valuable  Oriental  col- 
lection has  been  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Convention  for  exhi- 
bition.    Do  not  fail  to  see  it. 


MEMORABLE  DATES. 


1354- — On  September  28th,  our  first  missionary  party  to  India 
sail  from  New  York  on  the  ship  "Sabine." 

1854— On  September  30th,  our  first  missionary  party  to  Egypt 
sail  from  Philadelphia  on  the  ship  "City  of 
Manchester." 

1854 — On  November  Jt+th,  Rev.  Thos.  and  Mrs.  McCague 
arrive  in  Cairo,  marking  the  establishment  of  our 
Mission  in  Egypt. 

1355 — On  August  8th,  Rev.  Andrew  Gordon  reached  Sialkot, 
marking  the  establishment  of  our  Mission  in  India. 

1856 — I"  November,  the  Missionary  Association  in  India, 
called  "The  Sialkot  Mission"  was  organized. 

1856 — On  December  i8th,  the  Presbytery  of  Sialkot  was 
organized. 

1357 — On  October  25th,  the  first  baptisms  of  our  India  Mis- 
sion took  place ;  a  Brahmin  and  a  Chuhra  (the 
highest  and  lowest  castes). 

1357 — The  Sepoy  Mutiny  breaks  out  in  India,  resulting  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  East  India  Company  and  the 
establi.shment  of  British  Government. 

1353_0,i  May  26th,  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  of 
North  America  came  into  being  out  of  the  Union 
of  the  Associate  and  the  Associate  Reformed 
Churches. 

1 859— On  January  7th,  our  first  native  preachers  were  or- 
dained in  India. 


1859— The  first  great  religious  interest  in  our  Mission  Field  in 
India  begins  (among  the  Megs). 

1859 — In  September,  the  first  four  members  are  received  into 
our  church  in  Egypt. 

1860 — Our  missionaries  organized  the  Presbytery  of  Egypt. 

1863— On  February  15th,  our  first  native  Egyptian  congrega- 
tion is  organized. 

1864 — On  September  26th,  our  first  Theological  Seminary  was 
formally  opened  in  Egypt. 

1865— On  March,  5th,  Dr.  Hogg  opened  the  school  which  de- 
veloped into  the  Assiut  Training  College. 

186T — On  February  10th,  Makhiel-el-Belyani  was  ordained 
the  first  native  preacher  of  our  Church  in  Egypt. 

1868 — Dr.  Johnston,  our  first  Medical  missionary  to  Egypt 
reaches  Alexandria. 

1871 — On  March  17th,  the  first  meeting  of  the  Egyptian  Mis- 
sionary Association  is  held. 

1 8T3 — Religious  interest  appears  among  the  Chuhras  of  our 
India  Mission  field. 

1377 — In  April,  our  Theological  Seminary  opens  in  India. 

1880 — In  September,  our  first  Hospital  in  India  opens  its 
doors. 

1882 — On  July  nth,  Alexandria  is  bombarded  by  the  British, 
and  the  occupation  of  Egypt  by  Great  Britain 
results. 

1902— On  October  29th,  our  India  missionaries,  in  faith  and 
prayer,  issue  an  appeal  for  180  new  missionaries. 

1903— On  February  19th,  our  Egyptian  missionaries,  in  like 
faith,  call  for  280  new  missionaries  to  make  possible 
the  evangelization  of  their  mission  field. 


CONVENTION   SPEAKERS. 


w  w 


REV.  D.  F.  MCGILTv,  D.D.  MRS.  W.  W.  BARR. 


REV.  M.  G.  KYIvE,  D.D 


REV.  ARTHUR  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 


LEV.   R.  M.  RUSSEH,  D.D. 


C.  V.   VICKRKV, 


MISS  EI.IZ.   TRVINl 
12 


REV.   W.   C.  WII.T.TAMSON,   D.D. 


Responsive  Readings. 


THE  GLORY  OF  HIS  KINGDOM. 

(Psalms  145  :  1-13  ;  98  :  1-9  ) 

I  will  extol  thee,  my  God,  O  King;  and  I  will  bless  tljy  name  for- 
ever and  forever. 

Every  day  will  I  bless  thee;  and  I  will  praise  thy  name  forever 
and  forever. 

Great  is  Jehovah,  and  greatly  to  be  praised;  and  his  greatness  is 
unsearchable. 

One  generation  shall  laud  thy  works  to  another,  and  shall  declare 
thy  mighty  acts. 

Of  the  glorious  majesty  of  thine  honor,  and  of  thy  wondrous  works, 
will  I  meditate. 

And  men  shall  speak  of  the  might  of  thy  terrible  acts;  and  I  will 
declare  thy  greatness. 

They  shall  utter  the  memory  of  thy  great  goodness,  and  shall  sing 
of  thy  righteousness. 

Jehovah  is  gracious,  and  merciful;  slow  to  anger,  and  of  great  lov- 
ing  kindness. 

Jehovah  is  good  to  all;  and  his  tender  mercies  ai-e  over  all  his 
works. 

All  thy  works  shall  give  thanks  unto  thee,  O  Jehovah;  and  thy 
saints  shall   bless  thee. 

They  shall  speak  of  the  glory  of  thy  kingdom,  and  talk  of  thy 
power; 

To  make  known  to  the  sons  of  men  his  mighty  acts;  and  the  glory 
of  the  majesty  of  his  kingdom. 

Thy  kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom. 

And  thy  dominion  endureth  throughout  all  generations. 

Oh  sing  unto  Jehovah  a  new  song;  for  he  hath  done  marvellous 
things. 

His  right  hand,  and  his  holy  arm,  hath  wrought  salvation  for  him. 

Jehovah  hath  made  known  his  salvation: 

His  righteousness  hath  he  openly  showed  in  the  sight  of  the  na- 
tions. 

He  hath  remembered  his  loving  kindness  and  his  faithfulness 
toward  the  house  of  Israel: 

All  the  ends  of  the  earth  have  seen  the  salvation  of  our  God 

Make  a  joyful  noise  unto  Jehovah,  all  the  earth:  Br^ak  forth  and 
sing  for  joy.  yea.  sing  praises. 

Sing  praises  unto  Jehovah  with  the  harp:  with  the  harp  and  the 
voice  of  melody. 


13 


With  trumpets  and  sound  of  cornet  make  a  joyful  noise  before  the 
King,  Jehovah. 

Let  the  sea  roar,  and  the  fullness  thereof;  the  world  and  they  that 
dwell  therein; 

Let  the  floods  clap  their  hands;  let  the  hills  sing  for  joy  together 
before  Jehovah;  for  he  cometh  to  judge  the  earth: 

He  will  judge  the  world  with  righteousness,  and  the  people  with 
equity. 

THE  LIGHT  OF  THE  WORLD* 

(John  8:12;  3  :  20,  21  ;  Matt.  5  :  i,  2,  14,  15,  16  ;  John  i  :  5,  6,  7  ;  2  :  10  ; 
Acts  26:  13-18.) 

Jesus  spake  unto  them,  saying,  I  am  the  light  of  the  world: 
He  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  the  darkness,  but  shall  have 
the  light  of  life. 

Every  one  that  doeth  evil  hateth  the  light,  and  cometh  not  to  the 
light,  lest  his  works  should  be  reproved. 

But  he  that  doeth  the  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  wxjrkg 
may  be  made  manifest,  that  they  have  been  wrought  in  God. 

We  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sent  me,  while  it  is  day:  the 
night  cometh,  when  no  man  can  work. 

When  I  am  in  the  world,  I  am  the  light  of  the  world. 

And  when  he  had  sat  down,  his  disciples  came  unto  him,  and  he 
opened  his  mouth  and  taught  them,  saying, 

Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.     A  city  set  on  a  hill  cannot  be  hid. 

Neither  do  men  light  a  lamp,  and  put  it  under  the  bushel,  but  on 
the  stand;  and  it  shineth  unto  all  that  are  in  the  house. 

Even  so  let  your  light  shine  before  men;  that  they  may  see  your 
good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 

And  this  is  the  message  which  we  have  heard  from  him  and  an- 
nounce unto  you,  that  God  is  light,  and  in  him  is  no  darkness  at  all. 

If  we  say  that  we  have  fellowship  with  him  and  walk  in  the  dark- 
ness, we  lie,  and  do  not  the  truth: 

But  if  we  walk  in  the  light,  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellow- 
ship one  with  another  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from 
all  sin. 

He  that  loveth  his  brother  abideth  in  the  light,  and  there  is  no 
occasion  of  stumbling  in  him. 

At  midday,  O  King,  I  saw  on  the  way  a  light  from  heaven,  above 
the  brightness  of  the  sun,  shining  round  about  me  and  them  that 
journeyed  with  me. 

And  when  we  were  all  fallen  to  the  earth,  I  heard  a  voice  saying 
unto  me  in  the  Hebrew  language,  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me? 
It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  goad. 

And  1  said.  Who  art  thou,  L^rd  ?  And  the  Lord  said,  I  am  .lesus 
whom  thou  persecutest. 

But  arise  and  stand  upon  thy  feet:  for  to  this  end  have  I  appeared 
unto  thee,  to  appoint  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness  both  of  the  things 
wherein  thou  hast  seen  me.  and  of  the  things  wherein  I  will  appear 
unto  thee; 

Delivering  thee  from  the  people,  and  from  the  Gentiles,  unto  v/hom 
I  send  thee. 

To  open  their  eyes,  that  they  may  turn  from  darkness  to  light 
a'irJ  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  remission 
of  sins  and  an  inheritance  among  them  that  are  sanctified  by  faith  in 
me. 

14 


THE  SECRET  OF  POWER, 

(John  15:  1-8  ;  Acts  i  :3-8.) 
I  am  the  true  vine,  and  my  Father  is  the  husbandman. 

Every  branch  in  me  that  beareth  not  fruit,  he  taketh  it  away:  and 
every  branch  that  beareth  fruit,  he  cleanseth  it,  that  it  may  bear  more 
fruit. 

Already  ye  are  clean  because  of  the  word  which  I  have  spoken  unto 
you. 

Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you.  As  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of 
itself,  except  it  abide  in  the  vine;  so  neither  can  ye,  except  ye  abide 
in  me. 

I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches: 

He  that  abideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  beareth  much  fruit; 
for  apart  from  me  ye  can  do  nothing. 

If  a  man  abide  not  in  me,  he  is  cast  forth  as  a  branch,  and  is 
withered ; 

And  they  gather  them,  and  cast  them  into  the  fire,  and  they  are 
burned. 

If  ye  abide  in  me,  and  my  words  abide  in  you,  ask  whatsoever  ye 
will,  and  it  shall  be  done  unto  you. 

Herein  is  my  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear  much  fruit;  and  so  shall 
ye  be  my  disciples. 

He  also  showed  himself  alive  after  his  passion  by  many  proofs, 
appearing  unto  them  by  the  space  of  forty  days,  and  speaking  the 
things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God: 

And,  being  assembled  together  with  them,  he  charged  them  not  to 
depart  from  Jerusalem,  but  to  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father, 
which,  said  he,  ye  heard  from  me. 

For  John  indeed  baptized  with  water;  but  ye  shall  be  baptized  in 
the  Holy  Spirit  not  many  days  hence. 

They  therefore,  when  they  were  come  together,  asked  him,  saying, 
Lord,  dost  thou  at  this  time  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel? 

And  he  said  unto  them,  It  is  not  for  you  to  know  times  or  seasons, 
which  the  Father  hath  set  within  his  own  authority. 

But  ye  shall  receive  power,  when  the  Holy  Spirit  is  come  upon  you; 
and  ye  shall  be  my  witnesses  both  in  Jerusalem  and  in  all  Judea  and 
Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth. 


15 


BEATIFIC  VISIONS. 

(Isa.  35  :  i-io  ;  Revelation  7  :  1-4,  9-12.) 

The  wilderness  and  the  dry  land  shall  be  glad;  and  the  desert  shall 
rejoice,  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

It  shall  blossom  abundantly,  and  rejoice  even  with  joy  and  singing; 
the  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be  given  unto  it,  the  excellency  of  Carmel 
and  Sharon;  they  shall  see  the  glory  of  Jehovah,  the  excellency  of  our 
God. 

Strengthen  ye  the  weak  hands,  and  confirm  the  feeble  knees. 

Say  to  them  that  are  of  a  fearful  heart,  Be  strong,  fear  not;  behold, 
your  God  will  come  with  vengeance,  with  the  recompense  of  God;  he 
will   come   and   save   you. 

Then  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  be  opened,  and  the  ears  of  the  deaf 
shall  be  unstopped. 

Then  shall  the  lame  man  leap  as  a  hart,  and  the  tongue  of  the 
dumb  shall  sing;  for  in  the  wilderness  shall  waters  break  out,  and 
streams  in  the  desert. 

And  the  glowing  sand  shall  become  a  pool,  and  the  thirsty  ground 
springs  of  water;  in  the  habitation  of  jackals,  where  they  lay,  shall 
be  grass  with  reeds  and  rushes. 

And  a  highway  shall  be  there,  and  a  way,  and  it  shall  be  called  The 
way  of  holiness;  the  unclean  shall  not  pass  over  it;  but  it  shall  be  for 
the  redeemed;  the  wayfaring  men,  yea  fools,  shall  not  err  therem. 

No  lion  shall  be  there,  nor  shall  any  ravenous  beast  go  up  thereon; 
they  shall  not  be  found  there;  but  the  redeemed  shall  walk  there. 

And  the  ransomed  of  Jehovah  shall  return,  and  come  with  singing 
unto  Zion;  and  everlasting  joy  shall  be  upon  their  heads;  they  shall 
obtain  gladiiess  and  joy,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away. 

After  this  I  saw  four  angels  standing  at  the  four  corners  of  the 
earth,  holding  the  four  winds  of  the  earth,  that  no  wind  should  blow  on 
the  earth,  or  on  the  sea,  or  u])on  any  tree. 

And  I  saw  another  angel  ascend  from  the  sunrising,  having  the 
seal  of  the  living  God:  and  he  cried  with  a  great  voice  to  the  four 
angels  to  whom  it  was  given  to  hurt  the  earth  and  the  sea, 

Saying,  Hurt  not  the  earth,  neither  the  sea,  nor  the  trees,  till  we 
shall  have  sealed  the  servants  of  our  God  on  their  foreheads. 

And  I  heard  the  number  of  them  that  were  sealed,  a  hundred  and 
forty  and  four  thousand  sealed  out  of  every  tribe  of  the  children  of 
Israel: 

After  Lnese  things  I  saw,  and  behold,  a  great  multitude,  which  no 
man  could  number,  out  of  every  nation  and  of  all  tribes  and  peoples 
and  tongues,  standing  before  the  throne  and  beforp  th^  T.amb.  arrayed 
in  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands , 

And  they  cry  with  a  great  voice,  saying.  Salvation  untr^  our  God 
who  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb. 

And  all  the  angels  were  standing  round  about  the  throne,  and 
about  the  elders  and  the  four  living  creatures;  and  they  fell  before  the 
throne  on  their  faces,  and  worshipped  God. 

Saying,  Amen:  Blessing,  and  glory,  and  wisdom,  and  thanksgiving, 
and  honor,  and  power,  and  might,  be  unto  our  God  forever  and  ever. 
Amen. 

16 


Prayer  For  Guidance 


PSALM  5.  7s 


J.  W.  BISCHOPP 


^^=:£^gE^- 


1.  O         Je  -  lio    -    vah,  hear     my  words 

2.  In       the  morn  -  ing,  Lord,    my   voice 

3.  For      in     Thy        a  -  bun  -  dant  grace 


And  my  med  -  i  -  ta  -  tion  weigli; 
Thou  shalt  hear  in  sup-plijuit  cries; 
To      Thy  house  will    I    draw    near; 


Hear  my    cry,     my   King,  my   God, 

In  the  morn -ing,  Lord,    to     Thee 

To  Thy    ho  -    ly     tern  -  pie.  Lord, 

-<=2 


For  to  Thee,  O  Lord,  I'll  pray. 
I  will  lift  my  wait  -  ing  eyes. 
I       will  look    and   bow       in     fear. 


Lead      me     in       Thy  right  -  eous-ness,  Ev  -  er  -  more     my    steps  main-tain. 


And      be -cause    of   watch -ful    foes  Make  Thy  way      he  -  fore    me  plain. 


Copyright  by  J.  W.  BischoCf.  Used  by  per. 


PSALM  8.  7s 


God's  Glory  In  His  Works 


WILLIAM    F.    SHERWIN 


■fc^: 


:s: 


mmm 


w-^- 


phl^l^l^^ 


1.  Lord,    our  Lord,  o'er  earth's  vast  frame 

2.  When  Thy  heav  -  ens       I        sur  -  vey, 

3.  What     is    man    that      in     Thy  mind 

I        ^       I        ^ 


How     ex  -  alt  -  ed       is      Thy  name! 
Which  Thy   fin  -  gers'  worlc   dis  -  play, 
He       a     con  -  stant  place  should  iind? 

I     ^     I     ^    r> 


J        N  i^       I        ^     I  I        K  r  ^     r    p 


PPI^PigiiiijrtttPPP 


Who   hast  set     Tliy       glo  -    ry  bright  Far       a  -  hove    the     heav  -  en's  height. 

When  the  moon  and      stars       1      see  Or  -  dered  all      by      Thy       de  -  cree : 

What    the    son      of      man    that    lie  Should   be     vis  -   it    -    ed        bv   Thee? 

I  I     ^          ' 


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S  Chorus  ,  i 


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How  great  Thy   name!         Lord,  our  Lord,  in   all   the  earth   Howgreat  Thy  name! 


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p^piaigig^ippai 


IS 


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Who  hast  set  Thy  glo- ry  bright  Far  above  the  heaven's  height,  How  great  Thy  name  ! 


i^#l|^i 


:Pz± 


:t=i 


mm 


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Copyright  1877  by  John  H    Vincent  (  "  Kvening  Praise 


PSALM  9.  L.  M. 


God  Our  Stronghold 

4 


— I- 


1^1 


CHAS.     H.    GABKIEL 

^\      4 — \^4- 


L   The  Lord  for  -  pv  -  er     shall    en  -  dure,      He     hatli  for  judgment    set  Histlirone, 

2.  Je  -  ho- vah  shall    a        ref-  uge    prove,      A        ref- uge  strong  for  i)oor  opi)ressed, 

3.  And  they,  O    Lord,  that  know  Thy   name,    Their  con-  ti-dence  in    Thee  will  phice; 

4.  Sing  prais-es      to      the  Lord  Most  High,       To    Him  that  doth  in      7A  -  on  dwell; 


Copyright  1901  by  United  Presbyterian  Board  of  Puhli. 


1  ("  God  Prulaed  As  Judge"  ) 


God  Our  Stronghold 


(Con. 


In     right  -  eous-ness     to    judge  the  world  And    jus -lice   give     to       ev  -  ery   one. 

A  safe  re  -  treat  where  vvea  -  ry  souls  In  troublous  times  may  find  a  rest. 
For  Thou,  Je  -  ho  -  vah,  nev  -  er  hast  For- sak  -  on  them  tliat  s<-(k  Tliy  face. 
De-clare     His  might -y    deeds     a  -  broad,  11  is  deeds    a  -  mong    all    j)eo-])le   tell. 


-#-  -•-   -*- 


.0.  .0.    .0. 


P^iiil 


Chokus 


-h'^-N^t— N-, N— A— Pw- J-— --N-h'^-A— ST, -^, 


II     I 

Lord,  Thee    I'll  praise  with  all  my  heart      And  all  Thy  won  -  drous  works  proclaim ; 
Lord,  Thee  I'll      praise     with  all  my  heart       And        all  Thv  won   -  drous  works  proclaim ; 


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l^    L/    ^    [• 


In  Thee,     O  Thou  Most  High,  I'll  joy And  sing  the  praise  of  Thy  great  name. 

In    Thee,     O       Thou         Most         High,  I'll     joy 

I      ^ 


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The  Eternal  Joys  Of  Sabation 


PSALM  16.  S.  M. 


JAMES  McGRANAHAN 


1.  I'll     praise  God    while     I 

2.  The    Lord     be  -   fore      me 

3.  Now  glad  -  iiess   fills      my 

4.  My      soul      in  death's  dark 


r=^ 


-,' — [- 


live,  .     .     .  His    conn  -  sel   guides  me    right ; 

still  ...  I         set     and     trust   fiis     love; 

sonl,  .     .     .  And    joy     shall     be        ex  -  pressed 

pit  .  iShull    not      be      left      by     Thee, 

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My 

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from 

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in     hope 

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Chorus  (Prose  Version 


-\. l-n . 1 , ! H H— I 1 Pt =. 1 ^ \ Pt-l 1 1 


I' 

Thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life  ;  In  Thy  presence  is   ful  -  uess  of    joy; 

me     th(i   i>ath       of  life ; 


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At    Thy  right  hand  there  are  pleas    -     -   u res,  Are   pleasures  for  ev  -  er  -  more  : 

pleasures  ev-er-more,  for  ev'jr-iuore ; 


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^   1/   •   1/ 

At  Thy  right  hand  there  arc  pleas     -     -     nrcs,  thci 
pleasures  ev-er-iiiciiv, 


irci)loasurcs  for  c\ 


cf;ruii;ili:in  (  "  Pleas 


Nature's  Tribute  To  God 


PSALM  19.  H.  M. 


CHAS.  H.  GABRIEL 


mm^^^mi^^^ 


>— fN- 


1 .  The  glo-vy   of  the  Lord  The  heavens  deckire  abroad ;  Tlie  f  ir-ma-nieut  displays  The  handi  - 

2.  Aloud  they  do  uotspeak ;  They  utter  forth  no  word    Nor  into  language  break ;  Their  voice  is 

3.  In  them  He  for  the  sun  Hath  set  a  dwelling  place,  Ke-joi-cing  as   a   man  Of  strength  to 

4.  His  dai-  ly  go-lug  forth  Is  from  the  end  of  heaven;  The  lir-ma-ment  to  him  I.'S    for    his 


work  of  God;  Day  un  -  to  day  dc-  clar-eth  speech  And  night  toaiglit  doth  knowledge  teach, 
nev  -  er  heard.  Their  liuethroughalltheearth extends, Their wordstoearth'sremotest ends, 
run  a  race;  He,  bridegroom-like  in  his  ar  -  ray,  Comes  from  his  chamber  bringing  day. 
cir  -  cuit  given;  His  cir  -  cuit  reach  -  es  to    its  ends  And  everywhere  his  heat  ex- tends. 


^^=?^ 


Chorus  { Prose  Version  ) 

-J A 


\ *^.-J -I- 


The  heavens  declare   the  glo  -  ry    of  God  Andthefir-ma-menfcshoweth  Hishand-i-work; 


js — N — I — t* — I- 


The  heavens  declare  the  glo  -  ry     of  God  k\\A  the  lir-nia-ment  showcth  His  hand-i-  work. 


Copyright  1901  by  United  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication 

LENOX 


LF.WIS    EDSON 


6 


Looe  For  God's  Word 


PSALM  19,  C.  M. 


S 


JEEV 


JAMES   McGRANAHAN 

J N- 


1.  (rod's      law     is     per-  feet  and     converts    Tlie  soul  in       sin     that  lies; 

2.  The  stat-ntesof  the  Lord  are  right  And  do  re  -  joice  the  heart; 
.3.  Uu  -  spot -ted  is  the  fear  of  God  And  ev  -  er  doth  en  -  dure; 
4.  More    -    o  -  ver,  they   Thy  ser-vautwarn  How  he      his     life    should  frame; 


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b        I  I 

God's      tes  -  ti  -  mo  -  ny        is      most  sure  And     makes  the  sim  -  pie 

The     Lord's  command  is        pure    and  doth  Light     to     the     eyes    ini 

The    judgments   of      the      Lord     are  truth  And     right-eous-ness   most 

A       great    re-ward    pro  -  vid   -   ed     is  For    them  that  keep    the 


wise, 
part, 
pure, 
same. 


1=1 


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Chorus  (Psa.  119:  97,  Prose  Version) 


=1==1: 


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:^-=^=q=: 


^i^tg=S=r=^r 


O       how     love    I  Thv  law 


T 


how  love    I  Thv  law  !   It     is   my  med 


ta  -  tion     all     .     .     .  the       day. 

I         ^ 


O      how   love     I    Thy  law  !      O 


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love   I    Thy  law  !    It     is     my  med  -  i  -  ta  -  tion  all    llie     dav.     (aH     the       day) 

11 


ft — « 


Copyright  iwn  by  Jium-s  Mi-(; 


tr^-ipi 


■Thv  Liiw")  Used 


An  Intercession 


PSALM  20.  C.  M. 


JOHN   H.    STOCKTON 


-jmm^^^^^^^ 


1.  Je  -  ho  -  vail  hear  thee  in  the  day  When  trouble  He  doth  send,  And  let   the  name  of 

2.  Let  Him  remem-  ber    all  thy  gifts,  Ac  -  cept  thy  sac-ri  -  fice,  Grant  thee  thy  heart's  wish 

3.  In    Thy   sal-va-tion  we  will  joy;  In  our  God's  name  we  will  Dis-play  our  banners, 

I    ^  I  .  -^-  -•-  -•-  .   ^  ^  -^  -*-  -(2- 


Siii 


Chorus 


I: 


H^^mmsm^wm^ 


Ja-  cob's  God  From  ev  -  ery   ill     de  -  fend,  -v 
til    Thy  thoui'lits  and  counsel  wise,  v 


m 


and    fnl 

and  the  Lord  Thy  pray  -  ers  all    ful 


:tez=^=t: 


r~r 


m.  J 


O     let  Him  send  His  help  to  thee  Out 


iiii 


— t-r-»- 


:t:=t 


|ipii|iiiiig^i|=^piiiiil 


from  His  ho  -  ly  place;  Let  Him  from  Zi  -on,  His  own  hill,  Sustain  thee  by  His  grace. 


:*-_A*i«- 


Copyright  by  John  J.  Hood 


' )  Used  by  per. 


SWANWICK 


p^f^^giiifepSilrtipl 


The  Coming  Triumphs  Of  The  Gospel 


PSALM  22.  L.  M, 


■^^^iE^ 


:a: 


_^_i.. 


J=J: 


q=^= 


WILLIAM    H.    DOANE 


'■:^—§—l 


I 


I  I 

1.  Earth'sutmostboiiudsshall  bear  and  turn,     All  tribes  aud  realms  Thy  wor-shij)  learn; 

2.  I     will  to  breth- ren   show  Thy  name,  With- in  the  Church  Thy  praise  pro-claim; 

3.  A    seed  shall  rise     to  serve  the  Lord,    That  race  as  His      He  will      re-gard; 


-g-=- 


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:g=M=^=?=fc=g: 


:t=l==t 


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4— )- 


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i^=i^ 


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I  '  11-^ 

For  God  the  Lord     all    em  -  pire  owns  And  rules  a  -  bove    all 

Who  fear  the  Lord,  Him  laud   and  praise.  Him  fear,  all    ye        of 

They'll  come  and  tell      to    sire    and     son     The  righteous  deeds  the 


-In- 


earth -  ly 

Ja  -  cob' I 
Lord  hath 


th  roues. 

5  race. 

done. 


■^'   f:  :^    J^'- 


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Refrain 


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H =T • 1 1 — ^  — H 1- 


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For  God  the    Lord...      all    em-pireowns  And  rules  a  -  bove     all      earth  -  ly  thrones. 


IJ--^     ^ 


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Copyright  18B1  by  W.  U.  Doaue  ("  God  Of  Our  Streugth")  Used  by  per. 


Jesus  Our  Shepherd 


PSALM  23.  C.  M. 


1.  The  Ijord'smyShep- herd,  I'll     not  want.    He  makes  me  down     to  lie  In 

2.  My  soul     He  doth       re- store      a-}:;ain.  And   me       to  walk  doth  nuike  With 

3.  Yea, though  I  walk  tliroiifrh  death's  dark  vale.  Yet  will       I     fear      no  ill,  For 

4.  A      ta  -   ble  Thou  hast   fur-nishedme      In   pres-ence    of      my  foes;  My 

5.  Goodness  aud  mer  -  cy     all       my   life   Shall  sure  -  Iv     fol  -  low  me,  And 

I      ^    I     ^ 


mMA 


■iEEEl^i 


:3=3: 


I u — M-         L 1 


I.fiiiknli  Mc  " )  Used  by  per. 


Jesus  Our  Shepherd     (Con. 


Chorus 


A—^ 

-*-^: 


i 


■#—    I       I        I— t-H — • — m — q— [-<-v-#- 

■i-  -S-  ^  -i-  -5-~~^-  V  -•-  -„^ 


---tT^.. 


;^-r       I 


pasturesgreen;Hele;ideth   me  The  qui  -  ct    wa- ters     l)y. 

iu  the  paths  of  righteousness,  Even  for  Hisown  nanie'ssako. 
Thon  art  with  rae,  and  Thy  rod  And  staff  nie  com-  fort  still, 
head  Thou  dost  with  oil  anoint,  And  my  cup    o-  ver-llous. 

in  God's  house  for  ev  -  er-more  My  dwelling-place  shall  he. 

I     ^     '  "   1     ^  ui 


lead-  ("th     me, 


tJ^t: 


1 — l^JIP — ^—0 — #-1:1 — [^— I — ^-t^* — ' ■ ^ — ^— ' 

tempo 

^T  -0-      -•-     *;^^ 


-I — \-/. — 


He    lead-eth     me,     Inthegreenpasturesandby  the  still  wa-tei-s  He     lead-eth     me. 


10 

PSALM  23.  7s  &  6s 


ALEXANDER    EWING 


Jt^ 


The  Good  Shepherd 


1^1  I 

1.  The  Lord  my  Shepherd  feeds  rae,  And    I  no  want  shall  know;  He   in  green  pastures 

2.  Thy  rod  and  staff  shall  cheerme  Whenpassing(leatii'sdarkvale;Thou,Lord,wiltstillbe 


earns  which  gently  flow.      He  doth,  when  ill    be- tides      me,  Re  - 
I    shall  fear  no      ill.       Thy  goodness  shall  not  leave      me,  Thy 


-tJ.-"-* 


^=i=^ 


g=J=|zt|=J=_^-; 


^*l 


Store  me  from  dis- tress;  ForHisname'ssakeHeguidesmelnpathsof  right-eousness. 
mer-  cy  still  shall  guide,Till  God'shouseshall  receive  me,  For-  ev  -  er    to      a  -  bide. 


I        I 


^Ei 


-^ 


=Fr 


S=:g- 


11  The  Triumphal  Ascension  Of  Christ 

PSALM  24.  lis  J 


lEL    E.    TOWNER 


1.  Ye    gates,  lift  your  heads  and  an  entrance  dis-play.  Ye   doors   ev  -  er  -  last  -  ing,  wide 

2.  AVhatKing   of  all    glo  -  ry    is      this  that   ye  sing?  The  Lord,  strong  and  mighty,  the 

3.  The  King    of  all   glo  -  ry  high   hon-ors   a  -  wait,  The  King   of    all   glo  -  ry  shall 

^  ^  I        -#-  -^  ^  ^  -^-  , 


-i-i 1 N i ly 1 1 oi « • m — F~« r* « ^—^ ^-— I 


I  1/ 

o    -    pen   the  way ;  The  King  ol     all     glo  -  ry    liigli  hon  -  ors     a  -  wait,     The 

con  -  quer-ing  King.  Ye   gates,  lift  your  lieiMs  and  an  en-traiice  dis-play,     Ye 

en  -  ter     in   state.  AVhatKing  of    all     glo  -  ry      is  this   that    ye   sing?     Je- 

1*5   N  I  ^    ^    I     ^    ^  I     ^    ^ 


^==1: 


^=^: 


1=?: 


-A- 


-* — ^- 


Chorus 


*— * 


m-^z 


King     of    all  glo   -  ry  shall      en  -  ter     in  state.  ") 

doors     ev  -  er-last  -  ing,  wide      o  -  pen  the  way.    >    Ye     gates,  lift  your  heads  and  an 
ho   -  vah  of  Hosts,  He    of        glo  -  ry     is  King,  j 

1 ^-^--\ •— p-t^^^^— t^— •---" 1 f_ ^-^-3 


I     ^ 

en -trance  display.  Ye   ev  -  er  -  last-ing  doors,  wide  o  -  pen  the  way  ;  The  King  ot    all 
-•-   -•_    .^_  •       i        ,       ^     ^     N    w  .    ^     -- 


P — P — I y— L# •— -•- 


* 


iHV 


glo  -  ry  high  hou  -  ors    a  -  wait,  The  King   of    all  glo  -  ry   shall  en  -  ter   in   state. 


e=t 


Copyright  l-^OO  by  I).  R.  To« 


^=;-^- 


p^^=^=p»^ -p— •— • — p— p: 


"7-  'i^ 

I.ilt  Yimr  Heails"  )  Used  by  per 


■f-r 


wm 


12 


PSALM  25.  7s 


Prayer  And  Its  Assurances 


i 


SPANISH    MELODY 


^~ 


JZIX. 


M^^ 


1.  Lord,    to     nie     Thy   ways  make  known,  Load  in      truth    and  teac-h  Thou    nu-; 

2.  All       my  sins      of    youth    for  -  get,       Nor     my      tres  -  pass  -  es        re-    curd; 

3.  All       the  paths  of     God      the    Lord    Grace  aiid   truth    to    those   will     prove 


I      u    I      r 


:t: 


Thou  my  Sav 
Think  of  me 
Who      His    cov 


lour 
in 


t=^t:: 


:^=P=: 


:i=;=^t 


art       a   -  lone ;     All  the  day       I        wait      on  Thee, 

mcr  -  cy    great      For  Thy  goodness'      sake,     ( )  Lord, 

nant    re  -  gard,    Who  His  tas    -    ti    -    mo  -  nies  love. 
i             '                          -^        -•-        ^ 


-fe — :: 


=i=^= 


:^=i: 


Lord,      re  -  mem  -  ber      in     Thy     grace     All 

God        is    good    and    just    in  -   deed;    He 

Those    that  rev  -  er  -  euce  His     name  Shall 


Thymer-cies     man  -  i    -    fold 
His  way    will     sin  -  ncrs    show, 
Je  -  ho  -  vah's    se    -  crct    know 


Z 


i 


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m 


---t- 


F=1 


l=1^3-H 


Aud      Thy  lov  -  ing  -  kind  -  ness  -  es  ;     They  have  been   from  days       of       old. 
Will      the  meek     in    judg-ment   lead,    Mak  -  ing    them    His    way       to      know. 
In       His  sovereign  grace     to      them   He       His    cov   -    e  -  nant     will     show. 

-»-  •      -•-      _                                            I                                         -•--#--_ 
••—!—• € ,^ — !—• • • % 


Fixe 


SIMEON  B.    MARSH 


D.C. 


The  Fearlessness  And  Yearning  Of  Faith 


PSALM  27.  H.  M. 


WM.  J.  KIRKPATRICK 


r    -       '^^ 

1.  Je  -  ho  -  vah    is      my   light     And  my    sal-  va-tiounear;  Who  shall  my  soul   af- 

2.  Oue  thing  I  seek  through  grace,  For  this     to     God     I     praj',   That  in     His    ho-  ly 

3.  In    times  of   trou-ble      I  In   His    pa-  vil  -  ion  hide;   Safe    in     His   tent    I 

-^      Iff: 


fright  Or  raise  in  me  a  fear?  While  God  my  strength,  my  life,  sus-taius,  Se - 
place  I  ev  -  er  -  more  may  stay  To  see  the  beau  -  ty  of  the  Lord  And 
lie       And  on      a     rock     a  -  bide.       A  -  hove    my    foes     He     lifts  my  head.  And 

n^-  -  '   -  -^ 


cure   from  fear    my    soul    re -mains,  Se  -  cure      from  fear        my   soui      re  -  mains, 
in      His    tem  -  pie   seek  His  word,  And   in  His  tern  -     pie    seek     His   word. 

I        de  -  light   His  praise  to  spread,  And    I  de  -  light       His  praise  to    spread. 


Chorus  ( Prose  Version  ) 

-,-+, — I — ^.  r 


shall      He     hide     me;      lie  shall  set  me   safe    nj)  -  on     a     rock. 


up  -  on       a^     rock. 
^.     J^     J^     ./     ./    J. 


Copyright  l;»nl  by  Win.  J.  Kirkpiitrii^k.  Uscil  by  | 


1^ 


The  Joy  Of  Forgioeness 


PSALM  32.  7s  &  63 


LAURA   A.  TATE 


1.  How     blest    the     man    whose  ties  -  pass      Hath     free-    ly      par-doned   been; 

2.  My       tres  -  pass      I        ac  -  knowl- edged,    Nor       hid      my     sin     from     Thee; 

3.  From   trou  -  bles     that     sur  -  round    me        Thou  shalt    my    soul     keep     free; 


To      whom   the     Lord     hath     giv   -   en  A        cov    -   er  -  iug      for       sin 

I  said,     I'll   make     con  -  fes  -  sion;       Then     Thou     for  -  gav  -  est       me, 

With   songs    of     Thy      sal  -    va  -    tion       Thou    shalt      en  -  com  -  pass      me, 


How  blest  to  whom  im  -  put  -  ed 
For  this  shall  all  the  god  -  ly 
Ye        right  -  eouS     in        Je  -    ho  -    vah 


His     guilt      no     more     shall     be, 
In      prayer     to     Thee       a  -  l)ound; 
Be      glad,       in     Him       re  -  joice; 


The  man  in  whom  his  spir  -  it  From  all  de  -  ceit  is  free. 
In  sea  -  sons  they  shall  seek  Thee  When  Thou  art  to  be  found. 
All      that      in      heart     are      up  -  right,     For        joy       lift     up    your    voice. 


Shout  for  j  oy,  .shout  for  j  oy , 

Shout  for    joy, 


Be      glad,     in     Him     re  -  joice; 


All     ye     that     up  -  right  are    in     heart.    For     joy  lift    up     your   voice. 


1 — ^ 

0<n)yri«ht  1899  by  L.  A.  Tate  (  "  Joy  of  Forgiveness  "  )  Used  by  per. 


15 


Our  Father's  Care 


PSALM  34.  C.  M. 


JOHN    B.   HERBERT 


^ Sr—9 •- *--^. ^. 9 ^-^^—9r 

1.  O        let         us     mag  -  iii  -     fy      the     Lord;     Ex  -  alt    His  name  with    me. 

2.  O      taste       and     see      that     God     is      good ;    Who  trusts  in    Him    is      blest. 

3.  The   right  -  eous    cry       un  -    to      the     Lord ;     He     un  -  to    them  gives    ear, 


f-       ■'-'  II 

I      sought  the   Lord,  and     He     me  heard  And  from  all      fears  set      free. 

Fear  God,    His  saints,  none  that  Him  fear    Shall    be  with    want  op  -  pressed. 

And   they     oat     of     their   trou-bles   all      By     Him  de  -    liv  -  ered     are. 


The     an-  gel   of     the  Lord  en  -  camp-eth  round  a  -  bout    them  that    fear   Him;   The 


j^  -  ~    -m- ■   -»- -m^  ■    "   -  -      ^ 5t 

an  -  gel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about,  encampeth  round  about  them  that  fear  Him. 


-I \- 


I        III 


16 


The  Experience  Of  Grace 


PSALM  37.  C.  M 


LAURA   A.  TATE 


1.  The    foot -steps   of    the  right  -  eons  man  The     Lord     di  -  reels      a  -  right, 

2.  "Wait  on       the  Lord  and  keep     His  way,  And     thee     ex  -  alt     shall     He 

3.  Mark  thou  the  per -feet,  and      be -hold   The    man     of     up  -  right  ways; 

P     r-<^ =— r-^5 F-,<7. « r-d • ^ 


3if; 


:t=t: 


smm 


1— r^t^^ 


i=g= 


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S= 


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-*:  -«^  -5-    -25*--    -5>- 


llEr: 


T  ""P  - 

And      in  the  way  in  which  he    walks  He      tak  -  eth    great    de  -  ligh 

To     hold  the  laud  by  her   -  it  -    age     And     sin  -  ners'     ru  -   in       see. 

Be  -  cause  the  man  of  ho   -  ly      life      In    peace  shall   end     his     daj-s 


:t==t: 


t=E±=Ez=zE=EE^tEt=tEr-pzEt3E=l 


Chorus 


3E3: 


^^^i 


De  -   light      thy -self   in      God, 


De  -   light      thy -self  in      Go<l,  He'll 

^  It'      I^     It     It  J 


:^=|i=|i: 


=^ 


§ 


M^^-^r 

5 — J — ^=R^-i-<- 

p-i-       -1^ 

H- 

=*^1 

n,-i 

give       thy 

heart's      de  - 

sire        to 

thee;         Thy 

0 1 

way 

to  God  com 

-  niit, 

It    t   p_ 

r        f- 

t f-- 

l:t= 

tt=t=l 

-#— - 


-IS- 


Thy   wav     to  God  com  -  mit.   Him    trust, 

j±ti'   ifi  If:  If:    igi 


to       pass       shall  He. 

^ 


Copyright  1899  by  L.  A.  Tate  ("  Delight  In  God  '■ ) 


17 


Christ's  World-Dominion 


PSALM  47.  S.  M. 


ISAAC   SMITH 


gH^P^^Ei^ip^ 


1.  All  nations  clap  your  hands,  Let  shouts  of  tri-umph  ring,  Fordreadtul  o  -  ver   all     tlie 

2.  With  shouts  ascends  our  King,  With  trumpet's  stirring  call;  Praise,praise  ye  God,  His  praises 

3.  O     sing  in  joy-ful  strains, In  songs  His  truth  make  known;  God  o  -  ver  all   the  na  -  tions 

I     S'        -m-    -fS-     ^         l^^p-  J^  I    T^       -tS'  s>-  -m-   -<s>-        -i—    ^- 


lands    The  Lord   Most  High  is     King.  \ 

sing.    For  God       is     Lord   of    all.      >■  Praise  ye  the  Lord,    Hal  -  le  -  lu-jah!  Praise  ye  the 
reigns.  High  on       His  ho  -   ly  throne.  J 


Lord,    Hal -le- lu-jah!  Hal-le-lu  •  jah!  Hal- le- lu-jah!  Hal-le- lu-jah!  Praise  ye  the  Lord. 


("Silv;r  Street' 


18 


The  Penitent's  Prayer  And  Confession 


PSALM  51.  7s 


THOMAS   HASTINGS 


1.  Lord,    to      me      com  -  pas  -  sion   show,       As      Thy    ten  -    der   mer-cies   flow; 

2.  From   my    sins     hide    Thou   Thy    face;       Blot  them   out        in    Thy  rich  grace; 

3.  Sac  -    ri  -    fice      or      burnt  -  off  - 'riug       Can      to      Thee      no  pleas -ure  bring; 


lu 

l-^re( 
But 


Thy  vast  and  bound-less  grace 
my  heart,  O  God,  from  sin, 
a       spir    -     it    crushed  for    sin, 


My     trans-gres  -    sions   all       e  -   rase; 
Spir  -  it     right         re  -  new  with  -  in. 
Con  -  trite,  bro    -   ken   heart  with  -  iu, 


Wash  me  whol  -  ly  from  my  sins,  Cleanse  me  from 
Cast  me  not  a  -  Avay  from  Thee,  Nor  Thy  Spir 
Thlue   ac  -  cept  -  ed        sac  -     ri  -  fice.       Thou,     O     God, 


my   guilt  -  y     stams. 
it      take  from    me. 
wilt   not     de  -  spise. 


19 


PSALM  51.  CM 

± 


:60.  Legato 


Prayer  For  Pardon  And  Cleansing 


ROBT.   H.   WILSON 


1.  In    Tliy  groiit  l()ving-kiiulncss,L((i(l,Be 

2.  <)    wash  iiu'tlior-oiijih-ly  IVoin  .sill,  From 

3.  And  froiii  Tliy  <iia(i(ms  jnoscricc,  Lord,0 

4.  The  joy  wliichTliy  sal-va-tioiihrings  A- 


^^^^^^mm 


~^D_.-.j. 


ii  f»<. 


^ii^^i^= 


=SS^3^^5^ 


iuer-ci-f»l  to   me;  In  Thy  compassions  great  blot  out  All    my  in-iq-ui-ty. 

allmy  guilt  me  cleanse,  For  my  transgressions  I     con-fess,  I      ev  -  er  see  my  sins, 

cast  hie  not  a  -  way ;  Thy  Ho  -  ly  Spir  -  it     ut  -  ter  -  ly   Take  not  from  me,  I  pray, 

gain  to  me  re  -  store ;  With  Thy  free  Hpir-it     O     do  Thou  Up-hold  me  ev  -  er- more. 


than    snow. 


Wash        me,         wash       me,     and        I      shall   be  whit-er   than    snow 


:ff:       A  J-      J 


Wash         me,  wash         me,     and       I        shall    lie     whit  -  er     than       snow. 


Copyright  1896  by  Robt.  H.  Wilson  ("Whiter  Than  Snow")  I'se.l  by  per 


B.  WOODBrRV 


20 


God  A  Sheltering  Rock 


PSALM  61.  C.  M. 

Prayerfully 

ill 


B.    HERBERT 


-•-       -•-      -•-      -•-      -»- 


1.  O       God,  give     ear      nn    -  to       my      cry    And        to       my  prayer    at  -  tend: 

2.  For    Thou    liast     for       my       ref  -  uge    been       A       shel  -  ter       by     Thy    power; 
o.   With  -  in      Thy     tal)  -    er  -    na   -  cle         I      P'or    -   ev   -   er      will       a   -  l)ide; 


- — i — 0 — , — » » #— 


:r=f= 


w=-^ 


li^m^^g^ 


Thou  hast  been  a  shel  -  ter  for  me. 
Thou  hast  been  a  shel -ter  for  me; 
Thou  hast  been    a    she!  -  ter       for       me ; 


fe?EE?=iEEb£i 


From  th' utmost  cor- uer    of    the  land 
And      for     de-  fence    a-gainst  my  foes 
And      un  -  der  cov  -  ert    of  Thy  wings 
^ -•-  _2»-  _^0- 


^^ 


My  cry  to  Thee  Fll  send;  Thou  hast  been  a  shel  -  ter  for  me. 
Thou  hast  been  my  strong  tower,  Thou  hast  been  a  shel  -  ter  for  me. 
With     con   -  fi-dence    will    hide;    Thou   hast   been       a      shel  -  ter         for       me. 


f  Chorus 


tit: 


lan  I,   LeiKl  me  to  the  Rock,  lead  mo  to  tlie  Kock. 

.0.  -0.  -0-  ~0.  -0-  -0-  -0-  -^  -0-  -0-  +- 

V'  \r  v^  ^  v  rr .  ,        ,  „  . 


Oh,  lead  me  to  the  Kock  that  is  higher  than  I,   LcikI  me  to  the  Rock,  lead  mo  to  tlie  Rock. 
.«.  ^.  ^  ^.  ^.  ^.     ^.  4L  ^  -#-  _  _    -F- 


V— k'— 1^— l*'- 


Oh.londnu'    to   the  Rock, 


oil,  lead  me   to  the  Rock  that  is  high-er    than    1,  Thou  hast  been  a  shelter  tor  me. 


l%-^^r=^. 


.•-      .0. 

:t      ■ 


m^. 


I 


m 


^fz.fz£=t:z:.f 


:fziPzifzzii=to=:N: 


\J     V      \>'      "^ 

Copyright  189G  by  J.  B.  Hcrhirt,  ( •■ 


IlMSt   He 


^_t^_^_t/— hp-l- 


:i-=! 


;l  Dependence  On  God  For  Sanation 

PSALM  62.  C.  M. 


I-OWF.I.L    MASON 


y  -0-  -.-.--^-.    - 

1.  JNIy  snvil  with  ox -pec- ta- tion  doth    De-iieiid     on    (Jod    in  -  deed,  My  stieii>rtliaiid 

2.  Yet.    ()       my  soul,  up  -  on    the  Lord  Still    p:i-ticnt-Iy       at -tend;  My     ex  -  pec- 
;].   In    God      a -lone  my    glo  -  ry     is,     And    my     sal  -  va  -  tion  .sure;  My    rock     of 

^-     -         -       -                        .,.    ...        I*-    ...  .   .,.    ^.        I            I  ,^,    ^  .   .,. 

--r— ^r — i7- 


^=^ 


I      I 


3J^ 


i 


my    sal  -  va  -  tion  do     J'rom  Him    a-lone  pro-ceed.      He     on  -  ly  my   sal -va- tion  is,' 
ta- tion  and  my  hope   On  Him      a-lone  de-pend.     He     on  -  ly  my   sal -va- tion  is, 
strength  is   in     the  Lord,  M3-   ret"  -  nge  most  se- cure.      On  Him,   ye  peo-ple,  ev  -  er-more 


-•-  ^   .    •*--•-     -•         -*-  '   -»-    m         I  -•-       -•-  '   -•-    m     -O-    -•-•   -••  -0- 


V' 


-0-0-    -;H-  ,      -•- 

I  I 


.Vnd  my  strong  rock  is  He; 
And  my  strong  roek  is  He; 
With  con  -  li-dence  le  -  ly ; 

-0-'  -m-  -0-      I  I 


He  on  -  ly  is  my  sure  de-fence,  INIneli  moved  I. shall  not  he. 
}Ie  on -ly  is  my  sure  defence,  And  moved  I  shall  not  he. 
]>e-fore  Him  pour  ye  out  your  heart ;  God  is  onr  rel-nge  high. 

f^    -#-•   -#-  -•-  .  -•-  -0-    -9-      -•-•   -•-    -        I 


>=t: 


BELMONT 

J=4iz3z:Eii 


.•II.LIAM    r..\RDINER 


:1= 


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n 


God's  Grace  Magnified 


22 

PSALM  65.  7s  &  6s 


-J-^-^^=^: 


German  Melody 
Arr.  by  lowell  mason 


-a-  -»- 


':^^^ 


I  I  I  I  III 

1.  Praise  waits  for  Thee  in    Zi-on,     To  Thee  vows  paid  shall  be  ;      O    Thou  of  prayer  the 

2.  r.lest   lie  whom  Thou  hast  chosen   And  unto  Thee  brought  nigh,    Who  hath  for  hab  -  i  - 

3.  O       God    of  our   sal  -  va -tion,We  plead  with  Thee  in  prayer;  Thy  righteousness  makes 

— F» — t^ — # — 0 — • — \ 


:t:=t=t= 


^jL-fi_ 


« — » — ! 1 \-^ — ^-# »--— • H 


g|jip^g^^=tg|g^Ji^#^P;=g=5^ 


I 

hear  -  er, 
ta  -  tiou 
an  -  swer 


— 4 


-1*^-4- 


AU  flesh  shall  come  to  Thee. 
The  courts  of  God  Most  High. 
By  things  which  fear-ful  are. 

r  -e. 

\-0-  -V-     -•-     -•-     -•-         -^ 

-•— rt--s=t:z=t=: 


-A- 


In  -  i(i  -  ui-ties 
We  shall  in  rich 
Of  earth   the  end; 


-  gainst  me     Pre- 

-  bun-dance    P.e 

-  mot  -  est,    And 


-B — Pi ^^-\ — p»-- — • — #-^-1 — I — \ 1 1— 


^^m^mmi^^^^^^^ 


4_ 

0- 


vail  froniday  to  day,  P>ut  as  for  our  transgressions,  Them  shalt  Thou  jiurge  away, 
sat  -  is- tied  wi  til  grace  And  filled  with  all  thegoodness  Of  Thy  most  ho  -  ly  place. 
tiiose  a  -  far   at     sea,     These  all,  O  Lord,  are   pla-cing    Their  con  -  fi  -  dence  in   Thee. 

-•-  -0-    0    -•■    ^  .    .      m  .    »    f:    • - \ » -_jf:_-?:_:?jf_ 


AVEBB 


GEORGE  J.  Wt 


I ^J__J_^.J_^_l-^ ^-J-4-r-^ .-r^ — nJ- '     _4_      ^ ^-4-J-r-^ 1 


_P^_r^-«_^-r^-*-#-f- 


.0^-^fZ   0^- 


I  ill  I 


fl    ^^-i   I 


23  A  ReDiDed  Church  The  Hope  For  Missions 

PSALM  67.  7s&6s  i 


r.  nANKS 


1.  O   God,  to    ns  .show  mer-cy  And  bless  us   in  Thy  grace  ;  Cause  Thou  to  shine  iip- 

2.  ()   God,  let   people  praise  Thee,  Let  all   the  peo-ple  praise  ;      O     let   the  nations 

3.  O   God,  let   people  praise  Thee,  Thy  praises  let  them  sing,      And  thin  in    ricli   a- 

J-^— J— J— J-      I       1      !  I 


-J— J- 


on        us     Tlie  brightness  of    Thy  lace, 
joy  -  ful   Theirsongsof  glad- ness  raise. 
Inm-dance  The  earth  her  fruit  shall  bring. 


That  so  throughout  all     na  -  tions  Thy 
I"or  Thou  slialt  judge  the  peo  -  pie    In 
The  Lord  our  God  shall  bleas     us,    God 

\-.-\ -1— J- 


■^tt-=j-=]~-i=^j-F^-x~--i«- 


n 


:i^=i: 


d=^: 


-^ — 


-i^-^ 


'r'r 


ill 


way  maybe  well  known,  And  un  -  to  ev-ery  peo 
truth  and  righteousness.  And  on  the  earth  all  na  - 
shall  His  blessing  send.       And  people  all  shall  fear 


pie  Thy  sav-ing  health  be  shown, 
tions  Shall  Tliy  just  rule  confess. 
Him  To  earth's  re-mot-est    end. 


t      (Z-0-0- 


^^s^ 


24  Christ's  Beneficent  And  Boundless  Reign 

PSALM  72.  L.  M.  hen 


1.  The  just   shall    flour -ish     in       His  day,  While  lasts  the    nioou  shall  peace  ex-teud; 

2.  To  Him    shall    bow  who  dwell    in  wilds;  Down  to      the     dust  His  foes     shall  bend; 

3.  All  kiugs     be  -  fore  Him  down  shall  fall,    All     na  -  tious   shall  His  laws       o  -bey; 

4.  Long  as      the      sun    His  name  shall  last;     It    shall     en  -  dure  through  a  -  ges     all; 


From  sea  to 
The  kings  of 
He'll  save  the 
And  men    shall 


shall  be  His  sway, 
Tar-shish  and  the  isles, 
need-  y  when  they  eall, 
still    in  Him      be  blest, 


And  from 
She-ba 
The  poor 
Blest  all 


the 
and 
and 
the 


riv  -  er       to  earth's  end. 
Se  -  ba,     gifts  shall  send, 
those  that   have  no   stay, 
na  -  tions    shall  Him  call. 


Till   snn 

If: 


and   moon  no  more     are  known  They  shall  Thee  fear  through  a 


ges     all ; 


He'll  come  like  rain     on  mead  -  ows  mown  And  showers  up  -  on     the     earth  that  fall. 


5  The 

PSALM  72.L.  M. 


Stcat)  Of  The  Prince  Of  Peace 


=g= 


HF.INRICH    ZEUNER 

I-  ' 


1.  He'll  live;  be- fore 

2.  Long   as   the  sun 

3.  Now  bless-ed   be 

4.  And  liless-ed   be 


Him  shall  be  laid  Of    She-ba's  gold     an      of   -   fer  -  iug; 

His   name  shall  last;  It  shMl   en- dure  through  a   -   ges      all; 

the  Might-  y    One,  Je  -  ho  -  vah,  God     of      Is    -    ra   -   el. 

His    glo-rious  name,  Long  as    the      a  -   ges  shall       en-dme; 


smg. 

call. 


For  Him  shall  con  -  stant  prayer  be  made,    Hisprais-es  they  shall  dai  -  ly 
And  men  shall  still       in  Him    be  ble.st.     Blest  all   llie    na- tions  shall  Him 
i'or    lie      a-  lone     hath  won-ders  done.     And  deeds  in    glo  -  ry   that      Ca    -    eel. 
Oer  all    the   earth     ex- tend  His  fame ;        A  -  men,  A-men,  for-ev   -   er  -   nion 

-%     -%■     -er  --^ :?: <= ;E__e: 


26 

PSALM  72.  CM. 


The  Church's  Doxology 


OLIVER   HOLDEN 


Who   on  -  ly      do  -  eth      avou  -  drous  works,  In    glo 
The  whole  earth  let    His       glo   -    ry        fill.      A  -  men, 


that 
let 


^Z4 


Remembrance  Of  Former  Days 


PSALM  77.  C.  M. 


SCOTCH    MELODY 

4?^ 


1.  I  thought  uj)- on  the  days    of  old,  The  years  de-part -ed  long;      I  held  communion 

2.  For  -  ev  -   er  does  His  prom-  ise  fail?  Hath  God  for-got  -  ten  grace?  Hath  He  shut  up  His 

3.  I    W'ill   commem-o-rate    the  deeds  Accomplished  hj^  the  Lord;  The  wouders done  of 


with     my  heart,  By  night    recalled  my  song.    Jly  heart    iiKjuired  with  anx- ions  caic  Will 
ten-  der  love,  In      an  -  ger  hid  His    face?     Kut  this      is  mine   in -firm  -  i  -  ty.     My 
old     by  Thee  I      sure  -  ly  will    re  -  cord.       I        al  -  so  will   of      all    Thy  works  My 

-zffr  -r-    -r  ^m-^ ■ — n— I- — m   .  m-^ — n?—!?- — ^^je-   -^  -r 


God     for-  ev  -  er  spurn?  Shall  we   no  more  His  fii  -  vor  see?  Will  mer-  cy  ne'er  re  -  turn? 

thoughts  atonce  re-  ply;      I'll  callbackyearsof  God's  right  liand,Theyear.sofGod  Most  High. 

med  -   i  -  ta-tioumake,  And  of    Thydo-ings    to     disconi-se  Great  pleasure  I  will  take. 


("  Auld  Lang  Syne") 


28 


The  Sure  Mercies  of  God 


PSALM  89.  L.  M. 


DANIEL   B.   TOWNER 


1.  The  wou-ders  clone     by  Thee,   O    Lord,    The  heav-eu   shall      in  praise  re-  cord; 

2.  O   Thou   Je  -  ho  -  vah,  God   of  Hosts,  What  mighty     one     Thy  like- ness  boasts? 

3.  How  blest  the  realm  with    fa-vor  crowned  Who  hear  and  know  the  joy-  ful   sound; 


Thy  faith- ful  -  ness  shall  praise  command  When  ho  -  ly  ones  as  -  sem-bled  stand. 
Thy  faith-  ful  -  ness  is  ev  -  er  fouud  En  -  cir  -  cling  all  Thy  jiath  a  -  round. 
They    in     the    light,    O   Lord,  shall  live.    The  light  Thy    face     and     fa  -  vor   give. 


My   song  shall   ev 


N         hi^j 1 N — 


In  praise  the    mer  -  cies     of     the  Lord; 


=£=^S=q=£i=n 


'^=^^-^A-T- ^^^ ta=iH*^^ >--=^£=i-.g=LE: 


Thy  faith -ful -ness     my  mouth  shall  show  While  ceaseless    a    -    ges    on -ward  flow. 


Copyright  1887  by  D.  B.  Towner  ("  God's  Covenant  ")  Used  by  per. 


21) 


God's  ODershadotuing  Protection 


PSALM  91.  L.  M. 


LOVVELI,    MASON 


1.  The   man  who  once  has  found     a  -  bode  With  -  in    the    se-cret  place     of       God 

2.  I  of  the  Lord  my  God  will  say,  He  .is  my  ref-  uge  and  my  stay; 
:{.  His  outspread  pin- ions  shall  thee  hide;  Be -neath  Mis  wings  shalt  thou  con  -  tide; 
4.   Be  -  cause  thy  trust  is     God      a  -  lone.  Thy  dwelling-place  the  High  -  est      One, 


'^m^^m 


Shall  with  Al-might-y     God       a-   bide  And      in    His  shad- ow  safe  -   ly  hide. 

To    Him   for  safe-ty       1       will     flee;  My     God,  in    Him  my  trust   shall  be. 

His  faith -fnl-ness  shall    ev    -    er        be  A     shield  and  buckler    un    -    to  thee. 

No       e-  vil  .shall   up  -  on      thee  come.  Nor  plague  approach  thy  guard -ed  home. 


30 


The  Daily  Duty  Oi?  Praise 


PSALM  92.  C.  M. 


I.  C.  PIFRSON 


1.  To       ren  -  rler  thanks     iia  -  to      the   Lord         It        is         a     come-ly      thinji, 

2.  Thy     lov  -  iiiii  -  kind  -  lu-ss     to   show  fort li    When  sliines  the  morn -in;^     lifiht, 

3.  For    Thou,  Je  -    ho   -    vah,    by    Thy  work     J  last   made  my  Jieart  ri<;ht   }rh\il, 


mM^^^^^^m 


m^^mi^ 


^^=pi:^z=Sz=35=^ 


And  to  Thy  name,  O  Thou  Most  High,  Due  praise  a  -  loud  to  sing. 
And  to  de  -  dare  Thy  faith  -  ful  -  ness  With  pleas -ure  ev  -  cry  night. 
Aud        1      Avill      tri  -  uinph    iu      the  works  Which  by   Thy  hands  were  made. 


:^:^=z^==^zi^rz::^=i::i^ -^ziM"- \mz 


I  A--.  A  A^^l;f  At.>| 

ToThy  name.  O  Most  High,  To  Thy  name.  O  ^Nlost 

To  Thy  name,  O  Most  High,  To  Thy  iiiuiie. 

Iff:    Iff:    3?:  .^    ^    .m.  _•-    m.    .«. 


High,  And    to   Thy  name,    0  Thou  Most  High,  Due  praise  a- loud  to    sing. 

O  Most  High. 


:J1 


Looe's   Pleading 


PSALM  95.  C.  M. 

Duet.  Sop.  and  Tp:nor 
p  A, Ida  lite        -= 


JOHN    B.    HEKBERT 


SH^Se 


1.  To-day      if      you      will   hear         His  voice,   Then  hard-en    not         your  heart; 

2.  Be -cause  He      on    -    ly        is  our  God,     And  we    the  peo   -     pie      are 

-I- 


^^^^^m 


^^. 


l^^l^B 


mp  1 


H 


=P=P=^=F=S 


1^ 


To-day       if     you     will    hear         His  voice,     Then  liard-en  not         your  heart. 
Of    His     own    pas-  ture,   and         the   sheep         Of    His     al- might  -  y      care. 


Hear  His     vou'c, 

Hear    His    voice,  hear    His    voice, 

m         M  M  ^         -^         ■^■ 


hear,    hcvar    His   voice         to    -    day; 
liear     Ilis     voice  to    -      day; 

M.      -*-      .0-'        -m-       M-      ■ 


32 


The  Glad  Tidings  Of  A  Saoiour 


PSALM  98.  8s  &  7s 


JAMKS   McGRANAHAN 


:i%i 


am 


.-i^-\ — 


:^zS^=zJz:biT=zJ=;=J=;: 


1.  Sing     a       new      song  to      Je-lio    -     vali        I'or    the  won  dcrsilcliatli  wrought : 

2.  Lo,  Je  -    ho    -    vah  His    sal- va    -    tion  Hath  to  all     the  world  made  known; 

3.  Mimlt'nl      of        Histruth  ami  nier  -    cy         lie     to  Is-   raf'i'sl)onschathl)een, 

4.  All  the     earth,  sing  to     Je-ho    -    vah,  Sliout  a  -  loud,    singand    re-joice; 


1/ 


I      I     /    I 


/ 

-^-^^- 


^ii^^lil 


His  right  hand  and  arm  most  ho    -     ly  A"ic  -  to  -    ry         to]Iimliavel)rought. 

In     the  sight  of    ev  -  ery    iia   -    tion  He    His  right- eous-nesshathshowii. 

And   the  Lord  our  God's  sal- va  -    tion  All    the  ends        of  earth  have  seen. 

With  the  harp  sing  to     Je  -  ho   -   vah,  AViththe  harp      audtune-tul  voiee. 


|j=^j=:= 


:tz=^z=t 


^ 


Choeus 


Let     the       riv     -     ers    in   their  glad- u  ess   Clap    their    hands    vrith  one  ac- cord; 

Lettheriv -ers  Clap  their  bauds 


'c^E 


:^=^^: 


^ 

0-^ 


t=tr-=t: 


tt- 


-#-  ft  I       •     •    1      ^  ' 


3* 


I 

Let  the     moun  -  tains  .sing  to-geth  -  er,    Aud     re-joic( 


he-  fore  the  Lord; 


I    i^  ' 


Let  the    moun-  tains  sing  to-geth-  er,        Aud  re-joiee he- fore  the  Lord. 

I    ^  ^        rj-.,.  ^.  ....  -/^ 


:t: 


:t=:zt:=L 


:t:=t:^ 


Copyright  ISM  by  James  McGranahan  (  "  Sing  A  New  Song"  )  Used  hy  per. 


1^   i     I 


33 


Grateful  Adoration 


PSALM  100.  8s 


WILLIAM   G.   FISCHER 


1.  All    peo  -  pie  that  dwell  on     the  earth,  Your  sonirs  to      Je  -  ho  -  rah  now  raise; 

2.  Know  ye    that   Je  -  ho  -  vah     is     God;     Our     Sov -'reign  and  Mak  -  er    is      He; 

3.  O         en-  ter   His  tem-ple  with  praise,  His    por  -  tals  with  thank-ful  ao- claim; 

I       1  u     ^        ^  I  II        ^ 


O     wor  -  ship  Je  -  ho  -  vah  with  mirth,    Ap  -proacliHim  with  au-thems  of  jiraise. 
His    peo  -  pie  who  Ijow     to     His   rod        And    sheep  of     His  pas  -  tnre  are   we. 
Your  voi  -  oes     in   thanks-giv-iug  raise,     And  bless     ve     His   glo 


ous  name. 


"•■  I       U    - 

For  good     is     Je  -  ho  -  vah  the  Lord,  His   mer  -  cy     to    us     nev  -  er 

Je  -  ho  -  vah  the  Lord, 


LT  -'-  I      U 

ends;  His  faithfulness  true  to  His  word  Through  a  -  ges  unending  extends, 

nev-er  ends ;  to  His  word  ^ 


34 


Uniccrsal   Praise 


PSALM  100.  L.  M. 


LOUIS    BOURGEOIS 


1.  All    peo  -  pie    that  on    earth    do   dwell,  Sing    to    the  Lord  with  cheer-ful   voice; 

2.  Know  that  the   Lord  is      God     in -deed;  With- out  our  aid       He     did     us    make; 

3.  O       en  -  ter    then  His  gates  with  joy,     With -in    His  courts  His  praise  pro-claim; 

4.  Be -cause  the  Lord  our   God     is      good.    His   mer-cy  is        for  -  ev  -  er     sure; 


Him  serve  with  mirth,  His  praise  forth  tell.  Come  v 
W"  are  His  flock,  He  doth  us  feed.  And  i\ 
Lci  thank -ful  songs  y(mrtonguesem-ploy,  ()  hh 
His   truth   at      all  times  firm  -  ly     stood,  And  si u 


be  -  fore  Him   and  re  - 

His  .slieep  He    doth  us 

i  and  mag  -  ni   -  fy  His 

1  from  age     to      age  en  - 

.i«.      ]?:       i  .*-., 


joice. 
"take, 
name, 
dure. 


'  Old  Hundred 


35  ■     The  Fullness  Of  God's  Mercy 

PSALM  103.  8s  &  7s 


l==iiiri 


1.  O  my  soul,  bless  thou     Je  -  ho    -    viih,      Al!     with- in       nie    bless    His   name; 

2.  "Who  lor- gives     all      thy    traus-gres  -  sioiis,  Thy    dis-cas   -   es       all    Who  heals, 

3.  Far  as    east   from  west      is       dis    -  taut,     He    hath  ])ut       a  -  way     our     sin; 

4.  Bless  Je  -  ho  -  vah,      all       His    erea  -  tures      Kv    -  cr     un   -  der     His      <<.ii  -  trol, 

J^-'-^s: — -^ :   -r- .  -r 


J»-J -^-^-fL :•: 


Bless     Je  -  ho  -   vah  and  for-  get       not  All    His  mer  -  cies       to        iiro  claim. 

Who      re-deems  thee  from  de  -  strnc-tion,  Who  with  thee     so     kind    -    'y  deals. 

Like   the   pit    -   y  of          a  fa    -  ther  Hath  the  Lord's  com  -  jias   -  sion  Ixcn. 

All  throughout  His  vast  do  -  min-ion;  Bless    Je  -  ho   -  vah,      O         my  .soul. 


Chorus 

«~~ 

-W- 

=^=f^ 

^ 

-=^ 

=^ 

-^^ 

-r— - 

Z^— Ej22-r- 

n 

For    as   high 

as 

i 
is 

the    heav 

en, 

Far 

— ^ — 

=5= 

a- 

hove 

>      i 
the  earth 

be    -    low 

tlie     earth 

r-     * 

^    1  \ 

-\ 

he  -  low, 

^^ ^-i 

~^^- 

-| — 

=it:= 



-' 

-J — \. 

— •— y 

^j^g^^^^a^miEE 


:^^i 


Ev  -  er  great      to     them     that  fear '  Him        Is     the  mer    -   cy    He     will   .show. 

.---•      -m-      -m-         -»■        _-s- *__^_J (A m^ *-T-^-^ W  -^* 


Copyright  by  James  McUninahuii  ("O  My  Soul,  Bless  Thou")  Used  by  per. 
KATHBUN  ITHAMAR    CONKEY 


30 


God's  Eternal  Mercy 


PSALM  106.  CM. 


O.   UUTTERFtELD 


s=i-t 


WM 


1.  God's  might-y  works 

2.  Re  -  mem-l)er   me, 
:;.   That      I     Thv  cho  - 


*-»- 


ho     can      ex- ])ress,      Or       sliow  fortli  all  Ifis       ])iaise' 

Lord,  with  love     AVliieh  Tiiou    to  Thine  dost  bear; 
ill's  good  may   see        And       in    their  jov    re   -  joice, 

-•-   -•-  -•-    -•-  I  I  -«<- 

4.. 


^  1- 


I  I  I 

()        hiest    are    they     tliat    jnd<i-nient  keep  And  just  -    ly    do       al  -  ways. 

With  Thy     sal  -  va  -    tidU,       O       my    (iod.  To        vis  -     it    me    draw    near; 

And    may  with  Thine  in    -    her  -   it-anee  Ex    -  nit  with  eheer-lul    Aoiee. 


-•-      1 


rrai.,e 

ye the        Lord 

1 1^ -^H-^ 1— 1-, 1 , 

r^ ^-1 

^%-f-J— 

*        ^  i  •  * 

~A — |- 

"1 — 

^^" 

— q — 

— d~  id'^^l 

-e 9 • 

-S-f 

_g__._ 

~i~ 

-J— 

-s-=§  M 

Praise 

r     r     Sir  »»j- 

ye      the      Lord  and 

pi  -t-  I  I- 

1          1          1 
give  Him  thanks 

1   *    ' 

,  Forb 

3    • 
OUU 

ti- 

ful 

— p — 

is        He; 

r-i 

^lj^i=^= 

i— 1~^— 

-r — 

^ 

— t— 

=p= 

rM'^n 

1 

' 

1 

U 

1 

1 

His 

mer       -        -       cy  shall  en 

■  dure 

N — i 

His 

ten  -  der      mer   -  ev        ^ 

i     1     r   1 

hall   en  -  dure      To 

Pf— ^— f— *-^- 

all 

e  -  ter  -  ni 

^^i^'^^-t 

--i — 'i — V — 1- — 

L^     te     k      • 

-k-^ 

— V-. 1- 1 

— ^--— H 

-L      ^      k        ^. 

-k    - 

1 j .tl 

VALENTIA 


MAX    KIIUUVVEIN 


-/s*    -•-  -o-  -'5'-     -<?  ,.  -r?- -9-  -<?-  I  -<?--•- 

g:  -  -3  b-Ek*:£-:feiEtE=:E_zFE3tt=pfcffiEE^^ft= 
i^-S:a_t-ttH:rt=tk:^fc^=tg±rrf:E=Sfctairf 

III'.      I     M  r     r  rrr  i    ii   i   i 


Consecration  And  Dedication 


PSALM  116.  L.  M. 


WILLIAM    B.  BRADBURY 


#^rl=^-  -----  ^  H~a   ^=*=^^=^^^— =>^^ 

-h — -t- 

"-T^li 

g.--^i-E:zs_,^g=^j_L_^__g— *~g    \-P_:^=li=t=S^-- 

±*=«- 

=^11 

1.        I     love      tlie  Lord,  for     He     did    hear  :My  voice     and  sup  -    pM  - 

ca  -  tions 

all; 

•1.    The    sim  -  pie  vith    His   care     are   blest;    I     was  broiijiiit  low,    God 

res  -  ciu'd 

me; 

;].     I'or  Thon  from  death  liast  saved  me.  Lord,  And  Tliou  liast  freed      inv 

•v<-s  from 

tears, 

4.   With  sac   -    ri  -  fice      of  thanks  I'll     go     And     on       Je  -  ho  -    vah's 

name  will 

call, 

^^-4'^-~^-^zk=.S~^ S-^fi=i~^:r—^T^  .       S— 5  -    r^- 

l^-       '^ 

-^\] 

^      "*    i      r  1            j^       ,           1      it:                                 — L_, .^ 1 .j 

ft- 

1 

3:    :sr-      "  I  I 

r>e-eanse     He  hath     inclined  His     ear,       I      while      I 
My  soul,      re- turn  thou    to      thy     rest,    Great  love   the 


live      will      on 
Lord     hath  show 


.My  feet     from  fall  -  lug  hast     se- cured;  With  God    Lll      walk  tl 


r 

Him  call. 
n  to  thee. 

my  years. 
■  pie  'all. 


What    fit      re  -  turn.  Lord,  can      I     make  For    all    Thy      gifts    on      me      be-stowed", 

I       .«.      M.      jg-        -«.      .*-      .0.  ^  _, 


The    cup      of    biess-ing      I         will  take.  And  call   up  -   on         the  name     ol    God. 

I        .„.      .m.       _«.         .«.       -m- 


Copyright  owuecl  by  Eiglow  &  Main  Co.  ("What  Fit  Returu")  Used  by  per. 


GRATITUDE 


THOMAS   HASTINGS 


tfd=R=S=q: 


^i©i3ii^^iii^iiaii^^l^.^^a§ 


38 


The  Christian  Life 


PSALM  119.  C.  M. 


B.   C.    VNSELD 


A~*- 


1— rr 


1.  }Io\v  blest      are  the}' whose  lives     are  pure    And      up- right      in        the      Avay, 

2.  Thy    word       I      in       my    heart    have  hid,  That       1         of  -  fend      not      Thee; 

3.  Up   -on      Thystat-utes     my        de- light  Shall   con  -  staut  -  ly         ])e        set, 


^$— ^— ^J: 


m^\ 


Who       in        the  Lord's  most   ho 
()      Lord    Thou    ev    -    er     bless 


And       by      Thy  grace 


1 V    law 
ed    art, 


Do    walk    and      do      not     stray. 
Thy     Stat-  utes   teach  Thou     me. 


will      Thy      ho    -    ly      law     for   -    get. 


0  blest       are  they   who      to  ob-serve     His     stat-utes    are      in-clined, 

1  will       Thy    ho   -  ly       pre  -  cepts  make  My     nied  -  i    -   ta  -  tion  still, 
Let     Thy     sweet  mer- oies       al     -     so  come   And      vis  -  it      me,     O    Lord; 


-•-       -#-       -*-  •       -•-     -#- 


-•- -•- -0-         jF-  -#-       -»- 


-M—¥-- 


:t==t 


r=5?=?: 


'<Si- 


r-r- 


_^zzt 


And  who 
And  have 
Let      Thy 


-•-     -•-       -#-       -0-  . 

do  seek     the  liv 

re-spect      to  all 

sal  -  va  -  tion  come 


-Mmm 


:=S=q: 


:=?=^: 


mm. 


ing  God   With  their  whole  heart  and     mind. 

Thy  ways  Con  -  tin   -   u   -  ally        I        will. 

to     me,     Ac  -  cord  -  ing      to      Thy     word. 


-r- 


iiii 


CopyriKllt  I'JUI  by  Uniteii  Pres 


LOWELL   MASON 


39 

PSALM  121.  7 

>i-^a---> ^ 


JOHN    K.   GOVLD 


God's  Unceasing  Watch 

1.  To       the    hills       I'll     lift       mine  eyes,     "SVhenec  my  hopes      of    sue -cor    rise; 

2.  God     thy  keep  -    er      still     shall  stand         As         a     s-hade      on    thy  riyht  liand; 


l^^.i^¥i^^i^^; 


-a 


Jrrd. 


mm^^ 


From   the   Lord     comes   all       my     aid,         Who    the   earth   aud  lieaven  hath  made. 
Nei  -   ther  sun        by       day     shall  smite.      Nor     the      si  -    lent  moon  by    uight. 


He      will   ev     -     er        be      thy   guide,       And     thy   foot       shall  nev  -  er     slide: 
■God   shall  guard    from  ev  -  ery      ill,  Keep  thy   soul         in     safe-ty     still; 


God     His    Is    -      ra  -  el         that  keeps         Nev  -  er   shun  -  bers,  nev-er    sleeps. 
Both  with-out        aud     in        thy    door  He       will  keep    thee    ev  -  er  -  more. 


igg^g^i^ 


40 


LoDe  For  The  Church 


PSALM  122.  L.  M. 

Moderato 


JAMES   McGRANAHAM 


1.  With  joy        I     bear    my  friends  ex-claim, " Come,  let     us    iu    God's  tem  -  pie  meet;" 

2.  A       cit  -     y     built  com  -  pact   aud   fair,      Je  -  ru  -  salem  stands,  the  sa  -  cred  place 

3.  For    sake    of  friends  and   kin -died  dear     My  heart's  de- sire     is  "peace  to   thee;" 


With  -  in  thy  gates,  Je  -  ru  -  sa  -  lem,  Shall  ev  -  er  stand  our  will  -  ing  feet. 
To  which  the  gath  -  ering  tribes  re -pair,  Tribes  of  Je  -  ho  -  vah's  cho-seu  race. 
Aud     for      the  house    of      God,  my  prayer  Shall  seek  thy  good  cou-tin  -  ual  -  ly. 


Pray  that  Je -ru-salem's  peace  en  -  dure,  For    all     that  love  thee  God  will 


-^ — |- ^    I   g        m    — g-:       S~~r~^~ 


Peace  dwell  within    thy  walls  se-cure.  And  joy    with -in   thy    pal-  a-  ces. 


l—^-r^=^=^= 


Copyright  1901 V  James  McGranahaii  (  "The  Christian's  Affection  For  The  Church  "  )  Used  by  per. 


41 


The  Sotoing  And  The  Haroest 


JOHN   B.   HERBERT 


PSALM  126.  L.  M. 

1.  'Twas  like    a    dream  when  by     the   Lord  From  bond-age     Zi  -   on     was    re -stored; 

2.  The    hea-then  owned  whatGod  had  wrought,  (iicat  works  which  joy  to     us  have  brotiglit: 

3.  AVlio  sow     in     tears    witii  joy  sliall  reap;  Though  bcar-ing  pre  -  cious  seed  they  weep 


mm^m^^^^^^ 


^m^^^^^mMm:d^^l^^ii 


Our  mouths  were  filled  with  mirtli,  our  tongues  Were  cv-cr  sing-  ing  joy-  Ail  songs. 
As  south-ern  streams  when  filled  with  rain,  Lord,  turn  our  cap-tivc  stale  a  -  gain. 
While   go  -  ing  forth,    yet     shall   they   sing  Wlicn  coming  back  their  sheaves  tlicv  bring. 


^l£ili; 


Copyright  1896  by  J.  B.  Herbert  ( "  Bringing  Bacli  Tlie  Sheaves  " )  Used  by  per. 


The  Sotuing  And  The  Haroest     (Con.) 

p  Chorus  (  From  C.  M.  Version  )  711.  . 

Who   bear       -        -       iug  precious  seed,  lu      go    -        -        -     ing  forth  doth 

]!eaiiujiiu-e(ionsseed,  bearing  precious  seed,  gD-ing  forth  cloth  mourn, 


s^^i^:^,j0^^^^^^E^^^^^^^M^m^^miB 


i^i^^ 


I--E 


mourn,  He,  bring    -     ing  back  his  sheaves, Re-joi-cing  shall  return. 

going  forth  doth  mourn,  Bringing  back  his  sheaves,  bringingbackhissheaves, 


-^--:-g^g--r-  f: r^^"  r '  'g-g" r£^"S"~S" '  'Z '»  'Z  \^  ^  *l '  j 


42 

PSALM  130.  8s  &  7s 


Waiting  Upon  God 


WILLIAM    H.    YOUNG 


1.  From  the  depths  do       I       in  -  voke     Thee;     O     Je  -  ho  -  vah,  give     an      ear; 

2.  Lord,   if  Thou  sliouldst  mark  transgres  -  sions,  Who  be  -  fore  Thee,  Lord,  shall  stand? 

3.  For     Je  -    ho  -  vah      I      am      wait  -    ing,     And  my  hope    is        in      His   word, 

4.  For     the   Lord     my    soul     is       wait  -    ing,  More  than  watchers     in     the   night. 


21^.3 ^ ^—\ f_ 


^^^^^=^=ffM 


To    my  voice     lie   Thou    at   -   ten  -   tive  And  my     sup  -  pli  -ca-  tiou    hear. 

But  with  Thee  there   is      for  -    give  -  ness  That  Thy  name  may  fear    com-  mand. 

In    His   word    of  prom-ise       giy    -    en;    Yea,  my    soul  waits  for     the    Lord. 

More  than  they   for  morn  -  ing    watch  -  ing.  Watching   for     the  morn -ing   light. 


I      am     wait  -  ing,      wait  -  ing,      wait-ing,   ev  -  er  wait  -  ing      for    the   Lord; 

^.     _^         - 


Copyright  X901  by  United  Presbyterian  Bpard  of  Publication 


43 


PSALM  136.  L.  M. 


The  Endless  Mercy  Of  God 


JAMES   MCURANAHAN 


1.  O  thauk  the  Lord,    the  Lord    of    love,        O  thauk  the    God,      all  gods    a  -  bove, 

2.  Whose  wisdom  gave     the  heavens  their  birth.  And  ou    the     wa   -  ters  spread  the  earth, 
.">.    AVho  thought  on  us  a- midst  our  woes,    And  res- cued     us      from    all   our    foes, 


O  thank  the  might   -   y    King   of  kings.  Whose  arm  hath  done  such  won-drous  things. 
Who  taught  you  glo  -  rious  lights  their  way.    The     ra-diant  sun     to    rule      the     day. 
Who  dai  -  ly     feeds    each   liv  -  ing  thing;       O  thank  the  heaven's  Almight-y    King. 

.«-       .ft-        M.  ■  .m.       M.  ,m  -m-  - 


^E^EE^ 


Copyright  ISMO  by  J; 


44 


The   Soul's   Refuge 


PSALM  142.  L.  M.  isaac  b.  woodburv 

1.  To   God  my  ear  -  nest  voice    I    raise.     To    God       my  Toice       im -plor  -  ing  prays; 

2.  When  griefs  my  fainting  soul  o'er -flow,  TIiou  know -est.  Lord,     the  way      I       go, 
;}.    All    un-pro-tect  -  ed,    lo,        I     stand,   No   friend-  ly   guard  -  i  an     at      my   hand, 
4.    O   Lord,  my  Sav- lour,  now   to     Thee,  With  -  out       l\    hope      be -sides,    I       flee — 


pppi^id^gi^iir^3^i.^^^iip8 


Be -fore  His  face     I     pour  my  tears  And  tell       my  sor    -  row   in  His  ears. 

And  all  the  toils  that  foes  do  lay  To    snare   Thy  ser  -  \  ant  in  his  way. 

No  place  of  flight  or    ref  -  uge  near,  And  none      to  whom  my  soul  is  dear. 

To  Thee,  my  shcl  -  ter  from  the  strife,  My   por  -    tion  in  the  land  of  life. 


-(=  •    -*_  -<^-_ .(=^ _. -m-_  -(=. 


("  Eucharist"  ) 


45 


A  Morning  Supplication 


PSALM  143.  C.  M. 


WILLIAM    JI.    YOUNG 


-->-+ 


^:4 


1.  When  morn  -  ing  lights  the      east  -  ern  skies,  Thy     mer  -  oy,    Lord,  d is    -    dose, 

2.  Teach    me    '  the  way  where      I     should  go;      I        lift      my     sfjul     1o         'Ihcc  ; 

3.  Be  -  cause  Thou  art    my      God,     I     pray,  Teach  me       to       do    Tliy         will 


»fl^- 


'4=:: 


m 


\^\ 


m 


M—t 


^ — ^ s__ 


:^— 


EQSS 


And      let      Tliy  lov  -  ing  -  kind  -  ne.ss  rise  ;     On     Thee   my  hopes    re     -      pose. 
Ke  -    deem     me  from   the        ra  -  giug  foe;      To     Thee,     O  Lord,     I  dec. 

O         lead      me     in      the       per  -  feet  wav     By     Thy     gowl.Spir  -  it  still. 


:t:=l=: 


Chorus 


•^ f^-r— ^ \ 1 1— I 1''     — "^-^ — \-i 1^ — y — 1^  I 


On  Tjiee  .  .  .  my  hopes  re  -  pose.  On  Thee  .  .  .  ray  hopes  re  -  pose, 
On  Thee,  on  Thee  my  hopes  re  -  pose,  On  Thee,  on  Thee  my  hopes  re  -  pose, 
I        JL       ^       .«_     .#.       .•-       ^.       M-     -^       -•-       -•-      -«-    -^- 


— .1 ^ — h- — ^ — P-i 1 1 1- 

I 1 — I i_i y 


1        ^     ^ 

Fn     A     ^ 

p::J'=^-=:^=:^-= 

:=1  — H     J 

- ; — J — r^— •-^ 

P^   -i   1  ^=1=^    i   t    s 

^©?-J 

And 

r     • 

let     Thy     lov  -  ing  - 

S     ' 

kiml  -  iiess  rise,    On 

Thee     my  hopes    re     - 
.        ^     ^-       -0- 

1  ^1 

pose. 

~^~^ 

_^i ^ — 1 ^ — 

^r    17-  r    ^ 

^  t ^ — r     ^  — ' 

^^!-4| 

Copyright  1901  by  United  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication 

DOWNS 


LOWELL   MASON 


U-J^-J- 


(&-'-#-#-,5..-^-L-«-,-^- 


!^=-S 


0 


46 


God's  Glorious  Fame 


PSALM  145.  CM. 


]AMES    McGRANAHAN 


Not  too  alow 


a: 


w^mmm^^mw^ 


I      I 

1.  The  Lor(lisgreat,mucbtol)epraisecl,Hisgreatnesssearchexceeds;Raceun  -  to  raceshall 

2.  TheLordJe  -  ho- vahgra-cioas  is,    In  Himcorapas-sions  flow;     In    mer-cy   He    is 

3.  The  Lord  is  just  iu   all  His  ways  And  good  iu  His  works  all;  God's  near  to    all  that 


m. 


±-t- 


s 


m 


:^=i^=pz=te: 


-  ^h^=$^=f, 


g; 


t^ 


i:=t 


r-f-r 


Chorus  (  Prose  Version )  ^^       ,^^ 


praise  Thy  works  And  show  Thy  mighty  deeds.  \ 

ver  -  y  great,  And  nn  -  to     an  -  ger  slow.  I  Ev-ery  day    will     I    bless  Thee;  Ev-ery 
call     on  Him,    In  truth  that  on  Him  call.   J 


5=N= 


r— r— r— r 


■I -• — ^  -— •— r'5' f  I  •  -    •-r<^ • • — r* '5' 1 b*— i 


I       I 


day  will     I  blessThee;  Andl  willpraise,willpraiseThynameForev- er   and    ev  -  er. 
--s"-      _       _      _    -•-   t 


ti=t:=t=Ft-~^=:=F5=^t=r=|?=t=f=1: 


:ti=^: 


:r-^: 


~0=l 


•— r^ 


:ti=^: 


r— r 


j=t: 


1 — [- 


f=ErM 


'  Every  D^y  ■fl'!!!  I  DIcss  The 


47 


The  Adoration  Of  Heauen  And  Earth 


PSALM  148.  88  &.  7s 


■M.  J.  KIRKPATRICK 


ElEi^i^iii 


1.  1  [al  -  le  -  In  •  jah, praise  Je  -  ho 

2.  Let  them  praises  give    Je  -  ho 

3.  All     ye fruit-ful  trees  and     ce 


--N ^r-l- 


1^      i/ 
vah,  From  the  lieavens  praise  His  name;  I'raiseJe  - 

vail,  They  were  made  at  Hiscom-mand;  Tiiem  for  - 

dars,  All  ye  liills  and  mountains  high,  Creep-iug 

*e3 


a* 


I 


Copyright  Ib'Jil  by  Win,  .1,  Kirkjialrick  ("  Hullclujah,  Prais; 


I'Hh  "  )  Used  by  per. 


The  Adoration  Of  Heaoen  And  Earth     (Con.) 


-1 — ■ 1 1— r-^ ^-^ ^ &Ti— J ^-^-r-J h S-p-l 1 1 ^~, 


ho-vab   in   the     high  -  est,    All  His  an -gels  praise  proclaim.  All  His  hosts, to-geth-er 
cv  -  er    He   es    -  tab  -  lisheil, His  de-cree  shall  ev-er  stand.Froni  the  earth  O  praise . le- 
things,and  beasts  and  cat-tie,  Birdsthatin  the  heavens    fly,  Kings  oC  earth,  and  all  ye 


J      !  I  I    -^..  .•--*.     I  J..  4   J-    J    J     I 


praise  Him,  Sun,  and  moon, and  stars  on  high  ;  Praise  Him,0  ye  heavens  of  heav-ens, 
ho  -  vah,  All  ye  floods,  ye  dragons  all,  Fire,  and  hail,  and  sno\v,and  va  -  pors, 
peo  -  pie,  Prin-cesgreat,earth's  judges  all  ;   Praise  His  name,young  men  and  maidens. 


^    -^ 


i:^t- 


£=E=fi 


:t=: 


=t=: 


^     ^^-  ^ 


m 


^-^^. 


Chorus 


^^=^: 


^ — t^_n ^_, — j_c^.^_i 

he   sky.    -j 
His  call.    I  Let 
en  small.  ) 

m 


. -l^-^— Sir 


— I ~t^ — I 


And   ye  floods   above     the   sky 
Storm  -  y  winds  that  hear 
A  -  ged   men,  and  children  sm 


v-i — r 


them  prais      -      cs  give  Je  -  ho  -  vah.  For  His 
Let  them  pr.iis-es 
^.    .#_   jt.-    m.^.'  .0.   ^.     ^ 


name  alone  is  high,  AndHisglo      -      ry   is   ex  -  alt 
And  His  glo-ry 


l,And  His  glo     -      ry   is   e.\- 
Aiul  His  glo-rj' 


# 


iSI 


ed,  And  His     glo     -     - 

And  His  glo 

(2.        jg. 


alt 


ry  is     ex  -  alt    -  ed    Far     a  -hove  the  earth  and  sky. 


48 


The  Psalter's  Closing  Doxology 


PSALM  150.  L.  M. 


LOWELL   MASON 


Si! 


I  ■        ■       ■       V 

1.  O  praise   our  Lord  where  rich  in     grace 

2.  O  praise  Him  for     His  deeds  of    fame, 

3.  The  prais  -  es      of     the   Lord   ad  -  vance 

4.  On  cym  -  bals  loud   Je  -  ho  -  vah  praise, 

4 


His  pres-ence    fills  His    ho   -    ly 

O  praise  the   greatness    of      His 

AYitli  or  -  gan,   tim-brel,  and     the 

On  oym-bals  high  His    glo  -  ry 


J         r.     ?}     f^      ^    :-L  I  .       h  ...      ^     jfi.    .n.    -0. 


^tt*     n 

-^^-3 

F  ^     ^-  ^    ^     -- 

— •— 

-  ~t± 

— r — r — F-1 

m^   ^     -^ 

'~^—^-i-^-'^^ 

i=z^=^=r=^=: 

fr       f  - 

•               •    •         -                                    U 

'i/        '^        > 

place; 

Praise      Him        in      yon       ce    -    les  - 

tial 

arch. 

Where  holds  His 

name. 

0         praise    Him  with     tlie    trump 

-  et's 

sound, 

With     luirp    and 

dance; 

0         praise    Him  with     tlie     notes 

of 

joy 

And        ev  -   ery 

raise; 

Let           all      that  breathe,  with  glad 

ac 

-     cord. 

Lift       up     their 

2^^— ^- 

V-T^—F S ^— f— 

? 

*: 

T      I      g 

»u't g_ 

— s ;-^ — ^ — f- — ^ — 't.— 

-U- 

1 

l*^-tt 

^ p yi ^ ^ ^ 

" 

^ 


a^il? 


p — r^  ^^" 


power 
psal    - 
harp 
voice 

ztzz: 


t^       1/       ^  -        k-       1/ 

its  glo- rious  march,  Where  holds  His  power  its  glo-  rious  march 
tery  answering  round,  "With  harp  itnd  psal-tcry  answering  round, 
in  i)raise  em  -  ploy.  And  ev  -  cry  liarp  in  praise  em  -  ploy. 
"1 


110 


and  praise  the 


l.or 


And 
Lift 


m 


-B 


their  \oice  and  piaise    the     I>ord 

If-— 1=--| 


~^-^i 


m^ 


CONVENTIOIN   iVU.. 


»ns  the  Supreme  End  cc 
Every  Believef  a  Soul- Winner  I 
The  Powep  of  God  for  the  Work  of  God  1 
The  Missionary  Problenn  is  a  Personal  One 

The  Evangelization  of  our  Mission  Fields  In  this 
Generation. 

To  Wfn  for  Lamb  that  was   Slain,  the   Reward  oi 

His  Sufferings  I --Moravian  Misskmnr-   ^'-^''-  '"-' 

To  the  Pastor  belongs  the  Privilege  and  the  Re- 
sponsibility of  solving  the  fos'sian  missionarV 
Problem.- -Dr.   Pentecost. 

To  gather  In  to  Christ  the  souls  He  died  to  save* 
is     the      one     object     for     which     the     Church 

exists. --^I'Trav. 

The  Christians  of  the  first  gru'^f  «  s^i-*  «  «•"  =.=«■*-  -- 
accomplish  the  Evangeiization  of  the  world  than 
any  succeeding  genei'atio'^...-and  they  availed 
themselves  of  no  pov^:^-:'  vhich  we  also  canntn 
utilize.-- 

If  there  were  only  one  Ch- 
he  worked  a  yiar  a^r\<^  w 
and  if    these  two   ccfit'^  :j   ^t 
another,   and    i^ 
kingdom    led    a< 
years  every  per? 
for  Christ. 


w^m 


sbaU  speaft  ot  tbe  alori?  of  XTb^  fttita^om  afi5 
talh  ot  Ub^  power/ —Ps  1 1 


'fox  Ubinc  is  the  fttna^om,  an&  tbc  power  an&  tbe 


